Hurricane Samantha
by Samantha-LeFay
Summary: Samantha Munroe: feline-enhanced human, weather witch, and biology prodigy. Rebel without a cause, helpless romantic, born anarchist and feminist to death. Storm and Black Panther's daughter starts her senior year at Sky High... Don't own nothing, R&R!
1. Enter Hurricane Samantha

A/N: I don't own Sky High, so don't sue me... but I definitely wouldn't mind owning Warren...

CHAPTER 1 'Enter Hurricane Samantha'

**Sam's POV**

"I still don't understand why the HELL I have to go to a freakin' floating school, for Goddess knows how long, while you guys get to stick around for all the fun!" I scream, for the umpteenth time after being forced into the effing jet. Why, oh WHY do I have to go into hiding while they get to fight for all of OUR rights?! Show me the fairness in that!

"Samantha Emuishéré Masika Munroe. We have been through this at least a thousand times. I will _not_ repeat myself. You are going to that school, you are _staying_ at said school and if you don't watch your language young lady, you'll have your powers restrained for the next 3 months!"

Ok, so mommy dearest is a bit short on patience after all my complaining. I am lucky it's uncle Scooter and Auntie Jean who are driving the jet. Well, actually it is just uncle Scooter, since Jean is "trying" (notice the sarcasm people) to get Logan off her back. Oh, yeah, she's trying soooo hard. Can't you just feel the sarcasm in that phrase? Wonderful thing sarcasm. Cause Jean and Logan have been doing some serious flirting (with each other of course) for the past... how old am I, 17? So yeah, for the past, at least, 17 years. Of course Logan hasn't aged a day. And Jeannie, as only he get's away with calling her, hasn't either thanks to that Phoenix energy thingy she has going for her. Don't ask me to understand the workings of a cosmical entity. All the professor said when I asked was that the Phoenix force had seen Jean as the most fitting host in centuries and, as such, wanted to preserve her for as long as possible. So for all intents and purposes, Jean has a healing factor. Let's leave it at that. Sorry, I tend to digress. Anyway, back to me and my problems.

So, after much discussion, (and trust me, it was hours upon hours of screaming matches between mom and me. The weather was off for days after those. Dad normally just stayed off to one side, betting with Logan and Gambit who would win this round of yelling. It would've been funny, had it not been me they were betting on) it was settled that I _would_ go to Sky High. *shudder* Who the HELL came up with that name?

Oh, who _are_ mom and dad? Just about the most annoying mutant couple in the whole of ... I would say America but that wouldn't be fair to the American people so I'll just stick to world. They're Ororo Munroe, aka Storm, and T'Challa, King of Wakanda, aka Black Panther (yes, people, that does make me princess of Wakanda).

What is the problem with going to Sky High? It should be cool, right? A super school, it's got to be fun. But here's the deal: I've been brought up between African plains and the halls of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Those are the only two places in this whole, wide, world where I can honestly say I feel comfortable.

But because of some ridiculous government would-be law, all mutants have gone into hiding. The only safe places right now are with the "known" supers, because, even though the government hasn't got any records on them, they still basically work for the government and pay their taxes and daily save the lives of those "worthless little homo sapiens" as 'grandpa' Eric loves to call powerless people. And at their schools, aka Sky High and the likes, whose locations "are constantly changing to avoid detection". But you just can't make the whole of Xavier Mansion disappear so it's being evacuated until further notice. Most kids have family abroad and are being sent to Europe.

My only family is in Africa and since mommy and daddy are worried, they won't let me return to Africa "because of all the conflicts the African nations are going through". Yeah, right! Dude, those conflicts have been there since before Logan was born and they will still be there well after he's dead so I don't really understand what they're fussing about. My parents are crazy, and I've only just started dealing with it so they'll have to forgive me.

All this is going through my mind as the jet keeps steadily heading for Sky High. Uncle Scooter can really drive. I haven't felt a single turbulence throughout the whole flight and mind you this plane has to fight against the wrath of two very pissed weather witches, aka mom and me. Oh, yeah, I got her powers. And dad's. And, on top of that, I'm a genius, like daddy dearest. Only, he's into technology, I'm into genetics, but still... So, in the end, I'm like a super smart combo of Storm and Black Panther, all in one. Cool huh? Think again. Especially if your parents restrict the use of your powers as much as mine did.

They said that, since I already had a damn near perfect control over my powers but not over my temper I just had to reduce the use to a minimal. To avoid any accidental damages. Can you believe that?! Again, nuts. The both of them (I still have trouble controlling my body temp. Jean and mom say it's because of my feline half, since cats like it warmer, which doesn't make sense cause my temp is normally _below_ any other person's... and also because of my raging hormones. It should sort itself out when I stop developing and my hormones calm down. In the mean time, I just have to deal with being slightly too cold for my taste most of the time. But still...).

To cap this up, they are off to the save all the mutants in America, from this stupid governments' Superhuman Registration Act. And they won't let me help. Not cool. How am I supposed to grow into a heroine if I'm not allowed to practice saving the world? Not that I actually _need_ the practice. I mean, HELLO, I live with the X-MEN! By this time in my life I've learnt everything there is and isn't to being a hero! But, no! I can't help because I'm too young. This coming from the woman who has been "goddess", thief and X-woman! And of course, my dad won't _dare_ contradict mom. UGHHH, sometimes I really hate my life. Except for my powers. My heritage is the one thing about myself I could NEVER regret. I'm half-America, half-African, have dark brown skin, with white hair and blue eyes (which I love! Come on people, who else gets that kinda gene combo?!), a woman and a mutant. And fucking proud of it.

Damn. We're there. Somebody please save me! But then again, I could probably just jump of the jet and fly away as fast as I can and try not to let my mom catch me. Yeah right! Who am I kidding? There's just no effing way to out fly my mother. Even though I probably am more powerful than her, she still has years of experience on me. Plus Jean's here. She could probably catch me the minute I set a foot out of this plane.

Damn it. I'm just gonna have to face it like a woman. Oh Goddess, how the hell am I going to survive this? NO! That's not the way to go. All I have to do is wait until the plane has left, and start planning how to get back to Africa. I suppose I could always fly most of the way back. Now, I just have to block my thoughts from Jean, and hope she hasn't already –

'_Don't even think about it.'_ Damn! So close. Now she's glaring at me. Well, as much as Jean can glare. Which, let's face it, she can't. She smiles at the comment. Good. But this just means that I'm gonna have to stick around. Oh, well. At least there's got to be _some_ decent eye-candy around here, right?

A/N: Short chapter, I know. It can be considered as a prologue, I guess... but you still have to review!!! I'll probably be updating every two days btw. Hope you liked it!


	2. A Grand Entrance

CHAPTER 2 'A Grand Entrance'

**A/N:** beware some major and rather boring power and character description. This is a necessary chapter, I am sorry. Perhaps it's about time I add another warning: characters in this story will be slightly out of character (I'll leave how much 'slightly' means to your own judgement).

Also, as I was warned I should do: I don't own Sky High OR X-Men.

**Third Person POV (this is a one time thing, promise)**

"So, man! What do you think?" Will said, a little too cheerfully for the pyro, on a Monday morning.

They had both been running late that morning, and, not wanting to be late to their first day as seniors, they had agreed to fly to school. Will had even had to call Ron to make sure he wouldn't make anybody else late.

"It's been a month, William, and since you haven't heard me complaining, then it must be going fine!"

Will shook his head, still smiling widely at his best friend. Sure, Warren had softened up a fair bit since the post-Royal Pain Homecoming. But, as he usually said when at school, he had an image to maintain (which wasn't really true. Everybody knew that Warren was friends with Will, Layla, Magenta, Zach and Ethan. But they still found him scary. So the gang didn't really know why he bothered...). Not to mention he just wasn't a true morning person. Sure he got up and all, but he was a bit cranky. Regardless of the fact that he had moved in with the Strongholds during the summer holidays, (because his mom was almost always gone to help with the fight against the Registration Act and Mrs. Stronghold didn't like the idea of leaving him alone in his house, he was now living in the Strongholds' new, spacious attic. His choice.) and despite being best friends for the past three years (man, it felt longer) Warren still wasn't used to Will's morning cheerfulness.

"Well, I don't know, you're a quiet person! And besides, it's our senior year! Anything can happen!" Warren sighed.

"William, we haven't even _started_ our senior year. That bell still hasn't rung yet! And why would you think anything can happen? It's just school..." he grumbled, trailing off.

"HA! Oh please! This is Sky High remember?! _Anything_ can happen here!"

The words hadn't even left Will's mouth when Layla, Magenta, Zach and Ethan joined them, having just stepped off the bus.

"Hi, Will! Hey Warren!" Layla said, ever the cheerful one of the lot.

"Hey Hippie." Warren said, while Will kissed his girlfriend. The nickname had stuck, fitting as it was.

"Yo, guys how's it going? Senior year man, I can't believe it. We are going to kick ass this year man!" Zach was already bouncing up and down. Magenta shrugged with a small smile. She had already gotten used to her boyfriend's antics.

"I can't believe we're graduating this year!" Ethan added in.

Ah! They had arrived at the hot topic of the moment. Graduation. None of them, not even Warren, could believe it was time to graduate. They had all grown so much, mentally, physically, and in regards to their powers.

Out of the whole gang, Warren was the one who had changed the most. Warren's powers had greatly increased over the past few years. For, as his control over his fiery temper had grown exponentially, so had his ability to control, not just his fire but any other as well. He could now manipulate fire into what ever shape he wanted. One of his personal favourites was his new means of transportation, which consisted in a disc of fire on which he could step and fly. Will had once nicknamed him the "Fire Surfer". He could now also control temperature, granted on the high end. He could heat air up enough to lift himself and others off the ground without needing to light up even the smallest flame. His body's resistance to low temperatures had also improved, and he had developed a healing factor of sorts: whenever he got a cut, a small flame would appear over the wound, closing it immediately, and if ever he got a bruise, the area would heat up and heal. And perhaps one of his favourite tricks now, was that he could create fire without needing to touch, or, as he himself put it, he could order things to combust. At first, only he and the gang had known, and it had been cause for several jokes, but then, Principal Powers had gotten wind of it and had given them all detentions. Regardless of this he was now one of the most powerful supers in the whole of Sky High, and one of the few who could take Will down thanks to his martial arts training, courtesy of Mrs. Stronghold. Between the healing factor and the natural strength he had built over the years, he could now withstand Will's punches without much complication.

After the deal with Royal Pain, the Strongholds had welcomed Warren into the family warmly(no pun intended), something he certainly hadn't expected but he wasn't complaining either. It was ironic how The Commander was now a father figure he could actually look up to, even if he had his ... _incoherent_ moments.

Also because of Royal Pain, and his new found friends he had consciously failed his sophomore year and had joined the gang for the rest of their school time. And, even though he would never admit it, he was fiercely protective of his friends. The rest of the school was wise enough to stay out of his way, but freshmen were always trouble. And whenever a freshman tried to bother anyone of the gang (the usual targets being Zach and Ethan) the whole school would be reminded of why they once were so afraid of Warren Peace. But that didn't happen very often.

What did happen daily were the 'fan girl attacks', as the gang jokingly called them. After it had been cleared that Warren was NOT a villain, every single girl in the school, except for Layla and Maj, had confessed their undying love for him. And nobody could blame them. Because of his training in hand-to-hand combat and his natural physiology, Warren was now 6'2" of pure muscle, gorgeously encased in tanned skin. His chocolate brown eyes were deep, thoughtful, and, on occasions, lethal and the occasional fully fledged smile was deadly to any female in the surrounding area. Thankfully, the attacks weren't normally planned in secret so either Maj or Layla could always warn him before he was flocked by girls from any year. Warren hated it, but the rest of the gang simply laughed their heads off.

Will hadn't changed too much. Physically. He had grown, he had filled in a bit as was expected, but he was still lanky compared to Warren. He had definitely matured, and wasn't as air-headed as before, well in the way of becoming the hero every one expected him to be. His powers had doubled and he was now stronger than the Commander himself. He had also broken his mother's record at flying speeds, though she could still kick his ass at fighting. His skin was now tough enough to withstand Warren's flames, though the pyro still managed a couple of attacks that were strong enough to make Will squirm. Apart from that, he still had problems with Mad Science, he was as in love with Layla as always, and he still smiled nearly as often as she did.

Layla was still Layla. The tree hugger, the cheerful, the supporting Layla every one knew. Her control over her powers was as good as ever, though she had become a lot stronger. She could now re-grow entire hectares of deforested areas at once, she had gotten the hold of how to make lemons, and she, like Warren, could now mentally command her element, so to speak. She didn't need her hands to signal for the plant to do something, which was very useful for going undetected. But most importantly, she could now grow plants out of thin air. She could even make a massive tree grow out of her hand!

Magenta was still the silent Goth they had all met, but she had cheered up considerably thanks to Zach. Now, instead of just becoming a guinea pig, she could also command most rodents around, and become most of them, for which she had been sent to hero class.

Zach was... well Zach. Hyperactive, neon bright Zach, he could now, not just glow at will but also levitate balls of light, and actually through them at his attackers, something that had earned him a place in hero class as well. He had grown up, though thankfully not in height anymore. He was more centred, he had more focus, and he could be called upon to have a decently deep conversation. But he still had absolutely no idea as to how to dance.

Ethan had changed a fair bit. He had grown, he had matured and his powers had developed enough to go on to hero class with the rest of them. He could now stretch himself so thin that he almost became invisible, and he could stick to any surface, becoming the best of the group at infiltration. Also, he had learned to melt things along with him, making it really easy for him to join in the many practical jokes they had done over the years. He was still the smart one, and their only salvation whenever exams came by. Except, perhaps for Warren. Who, like Ethan, always managed to be responsible and have a laugh. But then again, he was still the bookworm they had all met in their freshman year.

All of a sudden, that sense of peace that normally accompanied these meetings was disrupted by the arrival of a huge, black jet that, apparently, was about to land on Sky High.

**A/N: **again, sorry if it was too boring, but I deemed it necessary for coherence sake. You can R&R chapter 3 though... which is also up!


	3. Ok, I can work with this

CHAPTER 3 'Ok, I can work with this'

**A/N: **I still don't own nothing...

**Back to Sam's POV**

As our jet approaches the landing strip on Sky High, I can feel the eyes of every student on us. Even the teachers that are still outside are transfixed. Suddenly a comet of sorts zooms past our jet and lands on one of the sides of the strip. A woman appears in place of the comet. The power to transform into a comet. _Really_. This school is going to majorly suck. If I don't find something to stare at for the rest of my days here, I'll run away faster than what you can say 'X-men'! Well, fly away. Whatever.

Alright, time to face the music. Landing was as smooth as ever with uncle Scooter, and the ramp is lowered, facing the gawking crowd. You think that if I zapped a few they'd close their mouths? Yeah, me neither. Anyway, mom and dad on each side of me, Logan, Jean and Scooter behind us in case I try to run away, we make our way over to the comet-woman. She looks important. Wonder why?

'_She's the headmistress, Principal Powers.'_ I immediately hear Jean's reply in my head. I was always suck-y at keeping my thoughts to myself. Or maybe she's just trying to see of I'll burst into flight at any minute. Sooo. Comet-woman is the principal. And her name is Powers? Super school alright. You can't get more clichéd than _that_.

"Welcome to Sky High. I'm Diana Powers. And this, must be Samantha!" she says, looking at me. Of course, take it for granted that the only one of the group she _doesn't_ know is me. After all, all the others are worldwide known in the superhuman community. They're X-men for crying out loud! A group I'm still grinding my teeth at not being allowed to join into.

Meanwhile, mom has already confirmed Powers.

"Yes, this is our daughter, Samantha... Sam..." what? OH! Right, she wants me to be a good girl and formally introduce myself. Oh, *sigh* might as well. If she doesn't suspect me, I might have a bigger chance at escaping. So I extend my arm and shake hands with the Principal, very aware that the whole of the friggin' school is watching. Damn them.

"Samantha Munroe, please to meet to Principal Powers." She smiles, but I can see my parents look slightly shocked and suspicious. Can't blame them. They know I'm only this nice when I'm up to something. Oh well, I'll just have to prove them wrong. Using Jeannie as a telepathic connection, I try to calm my mother's doubts.

'_Come on, mom. I'm a princess remember? I have manners!'_ I think at her. Jean tries to hold in her laughter and my mom snorts quietly.

'_It's not your manners I doubt, but rather what you're hiding behind those manners!'_ Damn. She knows me to well.

"We are so glad to have you join us Samantha, I'm sure you'll do as well in Sky High as you did at Xavier's." Humph! I doubt THAT! Not like I'm gonna tell her but still...

From this point onwards there is nothing more to interest me in the conversation as the adults exclude me to talk about the current problem with the son-of-a-... of a law that's forcing me to come here. Logan doesn't bother joining in though and draws me a bit to the side.

"A'ight darlin', I'm gonna make you a deal. I want ya to stay at school, no running away, no flying away, no jumping of the edge to be sent home. AND" he raises his voice a little to stop my impending interruption. "And, you have my permission to kick ass, skip class and have fun. I will come over every weekend, I'll force Scooter to drive me if I have to, and I'll take you for a ride, to the mall if you want, we'll have our sparring matches and everything. A'ight? I'll even convince 'Ro to leave your powers alone. All I need is to be sure you'll be safe, and despite whatever you may think, this school is safe, as ridiculously clichéd as we may both think it. Trust me, I checked the security myself. So, how 'bout it?"

Don't you just love this man?! Having him as a godfather is the greatest thing. I nod enthusiastically, knowing as I did, I would _never_ get a better deal. We smile and he went over to the still boring talk of strategy and politics.

He pulls my mom away and starts the convincing process. I lift myself of the ground with a few light air currents and cross my legs getting comfortable. This might take a bit. All the attention is now centred on Logan and mom. Finally, and in much less time than I expected, my mom nods.

She comes back, smiles at me and nods. I simply hug her. Then dad, then Logan, then Jean and finally Scooter. I'm not going to see anyone in a while. I just know it. Save for Logan. But it is still going to be a week. I am used to having them around all day. I am going to miss them all.

"You'll be staying with the Commander and Jetstream. They have a room ready for you. Principal Powers will point out their son, and appoint someone to show you around. Take care of yourself Sammy. Despite what you may think, I don't want anything to happen to you. I love you, _khepri_.(1)" Uh oh, tearing up time. The sky is already clouding up. If I start crying now, it will rain for the next few hours. But then mom hugs me and I can't give a shit. I'm not going to see her for the next month at least. And as much of a pain in the ass as I am, I love her. For making me who I am, for being proud of who we are, and giving me my confidence in my powers, helping me to see how amazing it is to be a mutant. I owe my mother a lot. And I know that. As the shower starts pouring down, students run indoors, teachers set off to get ready for their class and Principal Powers goes to the school doors to wait for me to be ready. After a massive group hug from everyone, mom and I take a deep breath, nod at each other and force the rain to a stop. Teary-eyed as we are, we cannot let our emotions affect the world. _'She taught me that.'_ I remember. I struggle with a new wave of tears and wave goodbye as they get back on the jet and take off. I fight the grey clouds off; though in the state I am in, I can only reduce the cloud cover to a half of what it is.

'_This is going to be a gloomy day.'_ I think. Not in the mood for walking, I fly the rest of the way to the school doors and land softly next to Principal Powers, who smiles kindly and leads me inside.

She hands me my schedule, locker number and combination and takes me to my first class. Opening the door and ushering me in, she addresses the teacher. When I look at the guy I nearly break down laughing. His head is HUGE. It looks like a pregnant woman's belly, only on top of the guy's head. Holding in my laughter, I try to pay attention to what they are saying.

"... Samantha Munroe, transfer student from Xavier's Institute. Miss Munroe, this is William Stronghold, the son of the Commander and Jetstream." She says pointing him out. I nod and he smiles and waves. LOL, the guy looks like a Captain America wannabe. I don't know what his power is but he is going to need more than blinding amounts of blue, red and white to accomplish that. Trust me, I _know_ Captain America. "And this is Layla Williams." Powers adds in, pointing at a girl with a _little_ to much green and who is sitting so close to the Stronghold kid that it practically screams 'GIRLFRIEND!' "Miss Williams, kindly show Miss Munroe around the school." Layla nods with a smile so wide I would've thought to be physically impossible, then gives her boyfriend an even bigger smile. Is that her power?! "Well, Mr. Medulla, she's all yours." So big-head's name is Medulla.

"Alright, Miss Munroe, welcome to Mad Science." Okay, have you any idea how much will power it is taking out of me not to laugh out loud at the sound of the guy's voice?! It's like squeaky, alien... and so damn funny! But fortunately I manage to keep a fairly straight face. Then, what he has just said registers in my mind and a new batch of laughter silently shakes me. _Mad Science?!?!?!_ Who the HELL came up with the names for this school? "We work with assigned lab partners in this class. The only seat left is next to Mr. Peace so if you could just take your place we can begin the class." All this is said in his annoying alien-ish voice. I just nod, turn on my heel, still laughing silently and go towards my appointed seat.

When I get there, however, I stop laughing. Hell, I damn near stop breathing. 'Ok, I can work with _this_!' I breath. My lab partner is HOT! A Greek god! The guy is DROP. DEAD. GORGEOUS!!!! I catch myself as fast as I can before the whole class notices that I'm staring and sit down. Damn it is it just me, or is it reeeeally hot? And, for once, I'm not talking 'bout the guy next to me. Damn. I try lowering my body temp. But I end up lowering the temp of the whole room. With everybody else's teeth gritted against the cold, my lab partner turns to me, perfectly unaffected.

"Sorry." He said. His voice is all it takes for me to fall in love with the guy. Then it registers I have no idea as to why he's apologising. Immediately though, the room temperature levels out, but it isn't as hot as before around me. And people are staring at us. My hot lab partner glares at them and every body immediately snaps back to their own business. So, hottie and bad boy. I can _definitely_ work with this.

"Why, exactly?"

"I don't usually have to keep my body temperature in check while in Mad Science 'cause normally, no one seats by me." He must've seen the bewildered look on my face. What he's just said probably makes sense but I am having to fight against the spell of his brown eyes to see reason at the moment, so it takes longer for me to understand what he has just said. "I'm a pyro." He adds.

Aahhh, well that clears eve- No it doesn't! Pyros _control_ fire, what has this guy's body temperature have to do with anything?!

"And?" Then it hits me. John can control fire. But this guy can actually _generate_ it! That is AWESOME! "You mean you can create fire?!" he nods at me as if I'm stupid. That makes me kinda angry. How dare he take it for granted that he can be as hot as he is, get away with it and not make my brain all fuzzy?! HA! Who does he think he is?!

"Well I'm sorry for not knowing you were a pyro that could actually create fire!" I throw back in a loud whisper. He looks at me as if I'm crazy.

"What other kind of pyros are there?" he asks in his obnoxious, deep, husky voice. NO! Don't think about his voice! Bad Sammy!

"Fire-generating pyros are extremely rare! The most common type of pyro is the usual fire-manipulator!" He looks exasperated and rolls his eyes.

"If I tell you I'm sorry for affecting the room temperature and that I'm a pyro, wouldn't that mean I'm the 'fire-generating' type?" he asks in a low whisper that nearly makes me agree with him. His voice is as hot as he is. Dear Goddess! This guy is, unfortunately for me and probably the entire female population of Sky High, as annoying as he is hot. And I am getting pissed off.

"Well excuse me Your Majesty if my IQ is not up to your standards! And besides, your being a pyro shouldn't really have anything to do with affecting room temperatures!" I fire back in the same tone. I don't really understand why I continue arguing with the guy, whether it is because he's hot or whether I want to prove a point, either way I am decided not to loose this.

"One: Your Majesty? Really? Is that the best you can come up with to insult me? And two: it does have a lot to do with that because, since I'm a "fire-generating" pyro I can produce enough heat to affect room temperatures!" he says, making air quotes and mimicking me when saying "fire-generating" while his exasperated grumble is making me melt, but I am not going to let that affect me. Goddess he is hot... FOCUS!

""One"." I say, mimicking him right back with his annoying air quotes. "No, I frankly _can_ come up with better insults but I thought it wouldn't be healthy for the rest of the class if I pissed you off as much as I planned to, and two..." I trail off at that point, registering for the first time two things: one, he is seriously powerful if he can do that, and, most importantly, two, he is seriously close! His face isn't more than a few inches away from mine and it is making the temptation his lips create, unbearable. What about his lips I am not quite sure, but kissing them sounds like a very good idea all of a sudden.

"Two..." he prompts, waving his strong hand for me to continue. He has the nerve to look amused.

"Two, how powerful can you get?!" I whisper indignantly, and rather ridiculously to tell the truth. He chuckles, dropping his head slightly. I suppress a shiver as his warm breath hits my collarbone.

"I don't know how powerful I can get, but as for pissing me off with the insults... I'd love to see you try." Ok, so this time his breath hits my lips. I think he's doing this on fucking purpose, cause there is no goddamn way that he can _not_ notice what he's doing. By the amused grin on his gorgeous (FOCUS!) face I can tell he's doing it on purpose, and enjoying every second of it. Bastard. Hot bastard, but bastard anyway! Fortunately for what little dignity I have left, Medulla chooses this very moment to interrupt our... conversation...

"Mr. Peace, Miss Munroe, could you please kindly return to science class as interesting as your flirting session may be?" the whole class is staring at us, and I notice that every single girl, except for green girl (what's her name again? Layla?), is glaring daggers at me. I glare right back. If looks could kill I'd have to come back from the dead to keep arguing with hottie pyro next to me. I think I would.

A/N:

(1): Khepri is Egyptian for "morning sun". I know Storm isn't Egyptian but I liked it for a pet name. Besides, she did live in Cairo! For a while... R&R!


	4. Save the WHAT?

CHAPTER 4: 'Save the WHAT????'

After my first 'round' with 'hot lab partner' as I have already dubbed him, I resort to ignoring him. He lets me be with an amused grin on his delicious lips. Damn! Can't I think about this guy without acknowledging the fact that he's too hot for his own good (and mine)? Obviously not. But trust me when I say you couldn't either! Minutes later though, the bell rings and everybody starts getting up and leaving. _He_ picks up my schedule on his way out, looks at it, looks at me, then smirks. My knees turn to goo, but then I realise that his smirk isn't a good sign. Oh Goddess, what now?!

I'll tell you _what now_! I have EVERY FREAKING CLASS WITH HIM! That's what!!!! And seeing as, for some friggin' reason, everybody already has chosen seats, and the only ones that seat next to 'HLP' (short for 'hot lab partner'. I'm NOT going to keep writing all that over and over again. And I just _know_ I'll be writing a LOT about him!) are Stronghold and his gang! But there are never enough of _them_ to cover ALL the seats near _him_! And since _nobody_ else will seat next to him (although some girls do try to work up the guts), and they consider me now part of the gang, I am now starting to get used to his higher-than-normal body temperature. Which, let me tell you, is awfully distracting! Not to mention, since I still don't have my body temperature crap down, if I remain near him long enough, I get used to his warmth, and whenever I move _away_ from him, I start shivering like MAD!!! And so does the rest of the class... Do you sometimes get the feeling that the world is set on going against you? Well right now that's the only feeling I'm getting. Oh well, I suppose I really shouldn't be complaining seeing as I did beg for something to stare at during my time here. Have you noticed how conflicting a brain I have?

And now, of course, comes lunch. Where I officially meet the rest of the gang: Ethan, Zach and Magenta. Ethan seems to know more about my parents than I do! And for some odd reason, Layla and Magenta appear to be convinced that there is something between Warren and I. Not that I'm against the idea or anything but it is just NOT possible. But after Layla tells Magenta about Warren and my little argument back at Mad Science, they are both convinced there's "something" going on. Can you believe they have made me confess that I find him drop dead gorgeous within 2 minutes of overwhelming me with questions? Not to mention that like, what was it, 50 seconds later? Warren casually sits down next to me (again, only seat available). I could die. But I force myself not to show it. Not really working though. Not that with my skin tone much blush can come through, but my face still heats up, and so does the rest of the room. Sometimes it is truly inconvenient to have the potential to control room temperatures and not be able to control that potential. Warren immediately cancels me out by absorbing enough heat to make the cafeteria bearable again. After that, it is up to the freezers to cool the place back to normal. I decide it just isn't a good idea for me to stay in the cafeteria. I grab my chocolate pudding and my coke, having finished my sandwich (I'm into exercising, NOT eating healthy!), and I set off for the school patio. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Layla and Maj following me out. Suddenly, my blue/gray 'sidekick' (the irony of this world impresses me every time) starts ringing, so I pick up. It's my mom. I mouth it to Layla and Maj who have just caught up with me and answer the phone.

"Mom, whatever you've heard, I did NOT do it." Maj and Layla laugh quietly.

"Hi to you too sweetie. And I know you haven't done anything yet. Not even you are that fast." I sigh with relief. One can never be too cautious!

"So then why are you callin'?" it seemed strange. They had, after all, just left. And what with how things were for us at the moment, I couldn't imagine they had much free time.

"Because Principal Powers has just reminded us that you need a uniform to participate at 'Save the Citizen'!" I put on what I'm sure is a puzzled look. And... Yep! Maj and Layla's faces confirm I look like I have no effing clue as to what she's talking about. Which I truly don't!

"Save the WHAT????" suddenly they start laughing. As if they now understand...

"Save. The. Citizen." She vocalises each word as if I had the Juggernaut's IQ. "It's a game they play during P.E. I'm sure someone will be gracious enough to explain. Anyway, since you don't have the required school uniform, we asked the Principal if it was okay for you to use your X-uniform. She said yes. Kurt will be there in a few more seconds with it." I smile. Goddess knows I adore that uniform. It was a present for my 16th birthday. And it's by far my favourite outfit! Then I smile again at the thought of seeing Kurt. He's so sweet. I just hope that Maj and Layla won't judge him as everybody else does. Of course, the odds of that are astronomical seeing as, in all honesty, we're all "freaks".

"Oh, ok, mom. I'll just ask my friends. Take care of yourselves!"

"I'm glad you already have friends. But I expected no less from you. Anyway, you are right, I do have to go. Bye _khepri_! Take care of your self, kitten!" and with that, we hang up.

Moments later, there is a puff of blue smoke and Kurt is standing in front of me carrying a bag with my beloved X-uniform. I hear Layla and Maj gasp, so I go over and hug Kurt hello then turn to them.

"Guys, this is Kurt Wagner, also known as Nightcrawler. Kurt, these are Layla Williams, and Magenta Daniels. They're seniors, like me." Kurt smiles his crooked smile, and, with his natural charm, has them smiling back in a matter of seconds.

"Ladies." He says, bowing, in his heavy German accent (1). "Here is your bag, Sammy. Is everything going, well, at least, ok?" he asks, ever the mother hen over me.

"Yes, Blue, everything's fine." Hehe, I'm the only one who gets away with calling him "Blue". But that's just cause I gave him that nickname when I started talking. "I have even already made friends, see?" he smiles again, pleased that he has good news to deliver again. He checks the skies, anyway. Just in case I've become that good an actress. He knows me well enough to always have a way of knowing how I'm really doing. But the skies are blue, with just a little cloud cover. But that's expected. I'm a difficult person to please, what can I say? He simply nods, satisfied with what he sees.

"Well in that case, I'll be off. You know that if you ever need me, for anything, I'm a mere call away." I smile and hug him. He then bows goodbye to my friends who smile at him. And in another puff of blue smoke, he's gone.

"Well, that was Kurt for ya!" I say. They smile and begin talking about how sweet he was with me. I'm just glad they noticed. When they finally shut up (and I mean FINALLY) I grab the chance to ask.

"So, what exactly _is_ 'Save the Citizen'?" they smirk. Oh boy, this can't be too good either.

"So... let me get this straight. In the gym, there is an arena. And in the middle, there's a dangerous, spiky, crunching machine, with a citizen-wannabe of a dummy hanging of a rope on top of said machine, and two people on the hero team are supposed to save the aforementioned dummy while fighting of the two dumb-asses on the villain team?!"

"Yep, that's the basic concept." I smirk this time. And widely. These people have no friggin' idea what a Danger-Room Session is. LOL. This could actually turn out to be fun. Especially since I already have a list of asses I want to kick. Speed, Lash and Penny being right at the top (only Goddess knows why Principal Powers has allowed those three back to school. Layla and Maj have already filled me in on everything, lol. Not to mention, since they were gone most two years and had to do community service or something for another, they never got to finish their senior year, so now, we're stuck with them.), while the bunch of guys who had leered at me all day take less important places, and, of course, 'hot lab partner', who I now know is no other than Warren Peace. Yep, THE Warren Peace. No wonder he's got the bad boy attitude down to a T. But he's there just for the fun of having the chance to have a nice hand-to-hand combat with him (the only real reason why I want that is for the chance of pinning him down. What I'd do then... I have nooo idea. NOT!). He is apparently really good. As he seems to be at everything else. I hear the guy even sings! (2) Let's see how he does against my dad's genes and Logan's training!

YAY! That's the bell. Time for P.E. And to show off the body Goddess and training have given me. LOL. Not really since I'm already wearing a black corset a la Elektra, dark skinny jeans and my favourite stiletto boots. I know, I know, who wears stiletto heels to school, right? Well, I do. I walk better on heels than I do on anything else. So shut it! Regardless, my suit, like mom's, is fairly tight. Actually, my suit is like mom's in a lot of ways. And, in a lotta ways, it's very me. I designed it after all (3). Anyway. Back to me heading over to "Save the Citizen". Goddess, everybody sounds so excited. Apparently Will and Warren are the undefeated champions. But Coach Boomer (Sonic Boom. Duuuude, I'm going to run out of times allowed per lifetime to use this word with this school but seriously, can they be any more _cliché_?) is apparently sick and tired of them winning every game so he rarely picks them, or allows them to get picked. Although there is always the 'Welcome Back' game, he, pretty much, mandatorily allows them. I heard some girls gossiping something about new uniforms, and how Warren would look in them. Now THAT I have to see!

Seeing as I had all but skipped 'Power Placement' (into labels much?) I hadn't yet been into the gym. I wasn't disappointed, since not all gyms have a fighting arena that can disappear under the court floor, but it definitely wasn't our Danger Room, back at Xavier's. Not to mention _our_ basketball court disappears to open the ceiling of a jet hangar. Have you noticed how much I miss Xavier's Institute yet?

"Hey ladies, over here!" Zach is literally jumping up and down on the benches. Will is laughing; Ethan is waving at us, though more discreetly. Warren is just shaking his head. I would also wonder what the hell I'm doing hanging with those guys if I were him. And no, I'm not a telepath, but it's just written all over his face.

Either way, we head over there as the gym starts to fill up. Once everybody is settled down, Boomer gets on his high and mighty chair. I can see 'Big-head' Medulla leaning on some sort of balcony with another teacher (I suppose) to watch the games.

"SIIIIIIILENCEEEEEEEEEEE!" ok, someone seriously _needs_ to put a lid on THAT! I knew he was loud, but that was friggin' deafening! But it served its purpose. _Everybody_ has shut their respective traps and is looking at the coach expectantly. And sure enough...

"Ok, welcome back for your senior year people!" Everyone claps and cheers. "It is now time for our opening game, as is traditional. Peace, Stronghold!" they are getting up and starting to leave when Boomer tells them to stay put for a sec. "There are new uniforms, as you may have heard." I manage to get a glimpse of the girls from earlier, who are already looking at the hothead and giggling. Jeez. Crushing on him much? "And since, Lash and Speed are back, you might just test yourselves against them. For ol' times sake." He smirks. Layla whispers that that match had been Will's first 'Save the Citizen' with Warren, back in freshman year. AWWWWW. I can already see Will and Warren looking at each other and smirking over at the bullies. "Now, here are the rules: number one, NO HITTING THE COACH! You hear that hothead?! Either see to it that I am NOT on the receiving end of one of your fireballs _again_, or you and All American Boy II will not play 'Save the Citizen' again for the rest of the YEAR!" I hear Warren's low chuckle (which nearly turns the whole of me to goo) and Will's suppressed bark of laughter. I think this will be Will and Warren's last game then... "And number two, don't kill each other. That's it. Go get ready."

As soon as Will, Warren, Speedy and Stretchy disappear, I can hear the whole of the gym buzzing with excitement. I suppose this may turn out to be interesting, I mean, come on, it's Bad Boy Hot Pyro (I need to come up with a shorter nickname that also sums the whole of him up) and the Captain America Wannabe, against Speedy and Stretchy, "veteran" school bullies and wannabe villains! Besides, Warren's smirk promised fun. Just how many times do you think he'll hit Boomer with a fireball? All of a sudden, Speedy and Stretchy walk out to their sides of the arena, in combat suits, which are a mix between the Fantastic Four suits and a standard X-uniform. They look ridiculous. Then Will comes out, then...

Alright, SERIOUSLY MAJOR _**brain-malfunction**_! Will looks only slightly less ridiculous than Speedy and Stretchy, but Warren? WHEW! That guy gives the phrase "gotta love a man in a uniform" a WHOLE new meaning!!!!! I'm serious here! The uniform, plus the smirk, plus the hair pulled back, plus.... OH MY GOD. I'm about to have a heart attack. He just literally ripped the sleeves off! Showing some _major_ guns people! He currently has the whole of the female half of the gym drooling. It is no embarrassment for me to admit I can count myself among the victims of Warren's absolute hotness. The only two that can still think straight are Layla and Maj. Man, those girls seriously love their boyfriends. Which doesn't mean that they can't appreciate good stuff. I can see them nodding appreciatively towards them, though with Layla she might just be swooning over Will for all you know.

"Show off." I hear Magenta mumbling. I look at her and nod in my brain-dead state. She laughs at my face and I nudged her. Slowly, I'm recovering my synapses. As the shock wears off, my oxygen-deprived neurons put on some serious work to keep up with the info I'm supposed to be getting through from my ears to my head.

"Alright, is everybody ready?" every single girl shakes her head "no" but then again, Boomer was asking the three guys and the Dark Adonis down there. (there! A perfect nickname! Not that I'll ever have the guts to use it to his face but… whatever, back to the story!) And they do nod. Layla is already bouncing up and down along with Zach. That girl is too cheerful and that boy is too hyperactive.

"Three, two, one, BATTLE!"

And battle they do! As soon as Boomer screams, Lash goes for Will, while Speed, blurs over to Warren, I hear Layla, Ethan, Zach and Magenta gasp, but Warren is already in the air and out of what ever danger he could've been. (I need to get the details of that one!) Wait! Warren is IN THE AIR???? How does a pyro – a fire disc?! How the hell does he manage that?! Goddess, this guy's powerful! LMFAO! Speedy just stunned himself against the wall, instead of hitting Warren!!! Laughter attack!!! Everyone's cheering. It's obvious that the guys just want to give Speedy and Stretchy a hard time, cause, by now, either one of them could've grabbed the squealing "citizen". Will rises into the air, with an unusual smirk on his face, and towards Warren, while yelling for the pyro to make Lash let go. Warren smirks, all the girls swoon, and Lash falls down screaming (not that they're that high up) as Warren keeps a steady income of fireballs in his direction. Oh so conveniently, Lash falls down in front of Coach Boomer and his high-and-mighty chair.

The mystery of Will's smirk is unveiled as the steady stream of fire from Warren hits the Coach three or four times. He screams at them, threatening to go through with his previous threat. But the clock is ticking, and Will and Warren are having too much fun to pay him any attention. So while Warren nearly lights Stretchy's suit on fire, Will knocks Speedy off his feet with his dad's (old school) punching the floor thingy, and flies to, literally, save the citizen. Of course, he does "save" the squealing dummy, and the whole gym explodes into cheers and applause. Aren't they a popular pair of show offs. Not that Warren doesn't have everything there is to show off. Boy he can work that uniform. Heck he can work a pair of old boxers! ... Wouldn't that be a sight... *sigh*.

While I'm daydreaming, Will and Warren make a victory flying round over the stands of the gym, girls drool, boys cheer, Medulla and the other teacher clap, enthusiastically enough (though I think that's because Warren managed to hit Boomer so many times), and Boomer is still grumbling in his high chair about dangerous pairings and friggin' pyros. LOL. Finally, when my hands are aching out of clapping, Will and Warren go off to get changed. AWW, why can't he stay in that uniform? I can hear the whole of the girls in the gym muttering against him changing, but I can see him and Will rolling their eyes and heading off to change. Of course, the trademark "Warren Peace" smirk is ever present.

Alright, so may be this school might just be interesting.

**A/N: **Soooo.... so far so good? You tell me! R&R!!!

(1): I'm not going to try at writing accents that much. You guys know how they talk. sorry, but no...

(2): Have you heard Steven Strait singing? Try 'One thing leads to another' from the Sky High soundtrack. Very nice...


	5. Come again, Say WHAT!

CHAPTER 5: "Come again, Say WHAT?!?!"

Alright, so just because it was the first match of the year, and Will and Warren had made a bit of a show of it, then the class finishes early and seniors start flooding the halls to get to their lockers and get the hell back home. I personally want to fly down but I am told by Layla that if I don't know where the school is I won't know where to land and I would get lost unnecessarily. I have to agree.

So, ever the loyal friends (NOT), we wait for Will and Warren to finish changing and then set off for the bus. Remember my mom had told me that I was staying with the Strongholds? Well now I had to introduce myself. Yippee. So NOT. So we get on the bus, and, surprise, surprise, the only seat available, (no, that's not true, there are other seats available but if I try seating somewhere else, Layla and Maj will have my head) is next to Warren. I plop down ungracefully, mumbling under my breath about backstabbing new friends. He smirks, chuckling lowly and it takes everything I have NOT to look at his lips in that entranced manner only he's to blame for. I still don't have the guts to consider the possibility of _actually_ kissing him, aside from the fact that we are seating in a bus full of people looking at me. I hate the "new kid" syndrome!

The landing was smooth enough and Layla, Will and I get off.

"Warren, when are you - ?"

"Some time before 7. Apart from a short shift, I have to get something for Mrs. Young. She gave me some bills to put away, I told her where I put them, and she still can't find them." Will nods, shaking his head with a smile, and waves. Warren didn't even get off the bus, so we walk straight for the Strongholds' house.

"I think your stuff has already gotten here so all that's left is to move it into your room. We can bring the gang over the weekend to help out with the decorating and everything, you know? And if you want to paint it, Warren can help with the drying!" Will says enthusiastically. I laughed at the likelihood of the pyro accepting to act as paint-dryer.

We arrive at a nice house, big, homey, classy. It screamed Stronghold.

"Come on, you have to meet mom and dad!" we finally entered the house and the smell of freshly baked cookies wafted over to us. American dream much?

"Mom, dad, we're home! Come meet Samantha!" Great way to introduce someone right? But it is working. In less then a minute, Mr. and Mrs. Stronghold are in the living room and smiling first at Will, then at Layla and finally at me.

"Hello, Samantha, I'm Josie, welcome! How was your first day?" I smile. This woman has "mother" written all over her. She seems really nice. And she most likely is.

"Hi Mrs. Stronghold, thanks. It was fine. Actually, it went way better than I expected." I say, brightly enough, sharing a look with Layla. She smirks, knowing exactly what, or rather who, brightened up my day. Mrs. Stronghold notices the exchange and seems to smirk at us. Well, if Will and Warren are as good friends as they appear to be, she ought to know what I'm talking about. LOL.

"Hi, Samantha, I'm Steve. I'm glad you seem to have made friends already!"

"Hi Mr. Stronghold. Well, Layla basically pulled me into the gang so, yeah, I am now considered part of it. They're, bearable enough..." I say, trailing off sarcastically. Mr. and Mrs. Stronghold chuckle and Layla nudges me, jokingly.

"Well, your things have already arrived, so it is just a matter of getting them upstairs. I'm sure the guys can help you with that." Mrs. Stronghold says. I nod.

"Will has already offered his and the gang's help for the weekend to help me settle in and take care of decorating and stuff. So tonight, if you don't mind, all I'll do is get my boxes upstairs." Literally, I had boxes of stuff! They smile and say it was perfectly alright. I smile back. I think I'm gonna like it here!

So, finally, Will, Layla and I start moving the boxes over to my room. Will carries them to the back yard, and form there, Layla and I can work our magic. LOL. It's a very effective system really cause Layla can boss the trees around for help and I can summon wind currents, lifting boxes to my room. Again, very effective.

Can you believe I have over 20 boxes of stuff? And that, at least, 5 of those boxes are clothes? Probably about 7 or 8, to be honest. What can I say? A girl has to be able to dress herself. Decently. The room, by the way, is very nice. Spacious, breezy, with a small balcony, sufficiently big closet, vanity, big mirror, desk, double bed. All in all, a fine room for a teenager. Apparently I share bathroom with the room that's right next to mine, but that is no problem. There doesn't seem to be anyone in that room so, quite frankly, there is no reason for me to complain. Alright, time to entertain myself with putting everything in its place.

Alright. Time to work. Uh oh... see I've never been one for working much. Unless it's biology, powers, or dancing -related. And I'm not much of an orderly person either. But let's just keep that between you and me. So let's start easy. One box at a time. Simple really. So I open the box closest to me. Full of books, sketch books, desk stuff. Oh brother, here goes to nothing.

..... .... .... ....

I've been at this for, at least, 3 hours. It's amazing how time flies, whether you're having fun or not. One box after the other. Organising a room can be awfully boring. Fortunately, I found a way around that! Music! I didn't know I have about 5 hours worth of music in my I-pod. Anyway, I am currently emptying the very last box. WHEW! This house is a lot quieter than what I'm used to, you know? Back in the mansion, there are kids going around all day, and the greater part of the night. Here, the last time I heard something was about 30 minutes ago, when the front door opened and closed, and I heard Will saying something. I look at the brand new clock standing on the bed-side table. It's 7 o'clock. Just in time to hear my stomach growling, Mrs. Stronghold knocks.

"I'll start dinner right now. Anything special you may want Sammy?"

_Sammy_. I love that nickname. Don't really know why. I just do.

"No thanks, Mrs. Stronghold, I'm fine with whatever you'll cook."

"Okay!" I'm starting to think cheerfulness in this family is genetic. And I haven't even met Layla's parents yet!

THERE! All done. Can't believe I made it before dinner. I suppose it's about time to go down. Maybe I can help with something. I'm not the type to help out, really, but seeing as the Strongholds took me in, I feel like I _have_ to help. You know what I mean?

I haven't even changed from what I had on for school so I quickly grab a pair of short shorts, my favourite, most comfy ones and a black tank. If I'm not wearing heals, I just go barefoot. And with this sort of attire, you just _don't_ wear heals.

So, finally, I jog down the stairs, pulling my crazy, wavy, white hair into the classic messy bun.

"Hey, Mrs. Stronghold, anything I can help with?" She turns around, smiles and shakes her head.

"No, Sammy, don't worry. I already have the perfect kitchen assistant." Wonder who that is, neither Mr. Stronghold or Will strike me as the type. "Did you like your room?"

"Yes, it's great!" it really is, I love having my own space. Having nothing to do, I snoop around the fridge. Whatever she's cooking smells great. So great, that some one's already following their nose down the stairs.

"Oh and don't worry about having to share bathrooms, cause Warren normally uses the one in Will's room."

HUH?! I freeze, still half-way inside the fridge.

"Warren? What Warren?" Mrs. Stronghold looks at me, and it apparently dawns on her that I really have no idea what she's talking about.

"This Warren."

Hey I know that voice. Oh yeah! It's the same voice that's been turning my knees to jelly all day! WHAT! SHIT!! And... yep! I turn around (and thankfully I was holding onto the refrigerator door cause I am NOT ready for the sight that meets me) to see THE Warren Peace, pyro and Sky High hottie extraordinaire leaning against the counter, as if posing just for me (I wish!) in nothing more than dangerously low sweat pants and a black wife-beater, one so tight, it leaves little to nothing to my currently overactive imagination. Classic. It just had to happen. Man the guy's _fine_! Please tell me I'm not drooling. Damn it Sam, snap out of it!!!! So I do. Or try to.

"Y- You!" did I just stutter? Since when? I don't stutter! What is this guy doing to me? On second thought, I'd rather NOT answer this question!

"Me." He answers smoothly, the smirk back in place. Damn him. His hairs dripping wet, obviously having just stepped out of the shower. Goddess, don't let me be staring! "What are we cooking tonight?" he asks. Wait, _he's_ the cooking assistant? I'm gonna start making a list of all the things this guy can do! Or rather, make that a list of all the things he CAN'T do. I bet they fit in a post-it! He pulls a hair band from his wrist and starts pulling his hair back into a bun. Much like back at the "Save the Citizen" game. Only this time I can have a much closer look at every single muscle in his perfectly defined arms. I'm fainting here people!

"Well, I've already started it, just a cheese sauce, it's nearly done. Can you get the pasta?" Mrs. Stronghold asks him as if it was the most normal thing. I still haven't stopped staring. He nods and starts walking to the cupboard behind me.

"I would've imagined that, by this point in your life, someone would've told you that it's rude to stare." I'm sure, by now, you're wondering why I haven't kicked his ass yet, right? One would think, after what he just said, he so deserves it, right? But, see, when Warren Peace whispers into your ear, all you can hope to get done it to suppress the shiver currently running down your spine. Which is exactly what I am trying to accomplish. I'm surprised I can still think coherently. Somehow, through the fog currently clouding my brain, I hear Mrs. Stronghold's voice.

"Sammy, dear, could you please call Will and Steve, so they can set the table?"

"Sure thing." I nod. As I leave, I see her shaking her head and saying to Warren in an amused voice,

"You just couldn't help yourself, could you?" he chuckles. Thank Goddess the stairs have a railing I can hold onto.

Finally on the second floor, and with a clear enough head again, I knock on Will's door. He opens, sees my face, and half-grimaces, half smirks.

"You saw Warren didn't you?" which reminds me...

"I did. Care to explain what he's doing here?" I am starting to realise people smirking is NEVER a good sign.

"He's staying here."

"I figured out that much genius, I mean WHY?"

"Because his mom has also left to fight the Superhuman Registration Act, and he obviously can't stay with his dad." I nod. I know about that. Then...

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! You mean he's actually _living_ here?!"

"What exactly did you understand when I said 'he's staying here'?"

"I thought staying for the night!"

"Nah! Mom won't let him stay home alone. So he moved into the attic. His choice by the way. Tell him to show you up there some time. He's got a pretty cool place up there." Sure thing I'm gonna ask Warren Peace to show me to his room. I'm doomed. Might as well start getting used to it!

"Anyway, your mom says to get your dad and set the table."

"Right, I'll get him. You go and tell her we'll be right down. Or up. I think he's in the secret sanctum." The WHAT? They still have things like that? WOW. Old school indeed!

"Mrs. Stronghold, that was delicious!" I'm not kidding. This was one of the best dinners I've ever had! We even had dessert! Chocolate mousse! One of my personal favourites! "You have to do that chocolate mousse more often! How do you make it all swirly with the black and white?"

"Thanks darling, but really, all I did was the cheese sauce for the pasta. Warren made that mousse yesterday, for tonight's dinner. It was really good wasn't it? And how did you make it Warren? You've had me wondering since yesterday!" Oh you gotta be kidding me! I could marry the guy! And I swore not to marry! EVER! On principle, don't get me started on the whole explanation. Let's just say I don't believe in marriage.

"It's bitter chocolate mousse with vanilla mousse, kinda like shaken not stirred." Even I chuckle. I'm starting to get used to his voice, so long as it's not whispered in my ear.

"Well, I think we should call it a night. You guys don't want to be late for your second day of school, like you nearly were today, right?" Mr. Stronghold said staring pointedly at the two teenage boys sitting at the table. They smirked and got up, taking their plates to the kitchen.

"Warren, dear, don't worry about the dishes, I'll do them. You boys go get a good night sleep. You too Sammy." I do as I'm told. I take my plate to the kitchen, get a "g'night" from each of the boys, I say "goodnight" to Will's parents and head off to my room.

Boy, wasn't this an eventful day. I change into my PJ's, a classic, tank top-shorts ensemble, though I through off my bra. Can't sleep with the damned thing on. I brush my teeth and throw myself on my bed. I'll shower tomorrow morning. To wake up properly. I hear Will and Warren say good night to each other and I can hear Warren's footsteps walk to the end of the corridor and up the attic stairs. Damn enhanced hearing. His steps are slightly muffled, but still clear as he walks over head. I can't help but think about the hot roomy I have, only a roof between him and me. I wonder what he wears to bed. Cause if he can walk around the house in just sweats and that wife beater... uh oh. Mind down the gutter alert! Too damn late.

I start getting that flushed feeling, and suddenly the whole room heats up, most likely the house as well. Shit. Suddenly I hear footsteps on the roof, then down the attic stairs and down the corridor. Then the knock on my door. Make that HOLY shit.

"Yeah?" he opens the door, regardless of the fact that I could've been changing. But the minute I lay eyes on him I stop caring, myself. I was right. The only thing he wears to bed, apparently, is a pair of _illegally_ low-slung boxers and... yep, NOTHING else. There, standing on my doorway, is Warren Peace in all his dark, muscled glory. Ladies, that has to be the most defined _eight-pack_ I've ever seen! Okay I'm definitely drooling now. What's worse is that I can't bring myself to care cause my brain is just not working. At all. How is it that those boxers haven't fallen down yet? I don't know if I want them to, or if I want to save myself from the cardiac arrest I'm sure to enter if that were to happen. How I can still be forming long, coherent sentences is a miracle! About a minute later I have some normal brain activity and I notice he hasn't even started to talk. All he's doing is standing on my doorway, smirking, as if giving me time to get used to his amazing physique. Damn him for knowing I need the time. As soon as he notices I'm thinking again,(and Goddess only knows how he did _that_!) he opens his gorgeous mouth.

"Look, I really don't mind, but the Strongholds can't deal with your constant temperature changes, so, please, avoid what ever it is that triggers them, if you can't control it." Sounds bad, right? But his voice is right now so low, so sexy, yet so caring for the family he's talking about, that I can't bring myself to be insulted. Unfortunately I'm still not thinking completely straight.

"Then get out of my room." Why, oh WHY did I just say that?! His smirk only gets bigger, he raises his hands, as if surrendering, bows and leaves, closing the door behind him. The guy's got one hell of a rear... no pun intended. Oh I'm never gonna live this one down....


	6. Oh Goddess, what NOW!

CHAPTER 6: "Oh Goddess, what NOW?!"

BEEP; BEEP; BEEP; BEEEEEEEEEP!!!!!

Awww! Come on! Why the hell did you have to cut through my dream like that?! Not that I was dreaming with anyone interesting *cough* Warren *cough*. But I can't loose it again, unless I want him to come back down again and, even though that would be a perfect wake-up call, my brain is still fuzzy from sleep, and I don't need to cut my neurones' air supply this early on. I turn to look at the bed-side clock. It reads 6:46 am. Meh! Might as well get that shower going.

So after taking a (very rare) 15-minute-shower, I'm standing here, in my underwear. I am taking a risk and I know it because if a certain pyro should choose to pull of another one of his visits like last night and open my door _without_ my permission... I'll kill him! But that's only if he's dressed. If he's not yet fully dressed, or at least wearing a shirt, then my brain probably won't register that I should be trying to kill him. Have you noticed how my whole world seems to be swirling around him? It's becoming annoying!

But, in the mean time, let us get back to my current and most urgent problem. What to wear? I start pulling clothes out of the closet and was about to throw them on my bed and leave a complete mess when I remember this isn't my house, so I can't just create the hurricane-room I'm used to. Darn it. Oh well, I guess I'll have to do this the proper way. So pulling a piece of clothing out and putting it back in, I finally settle for a jean Capri, a white tank, a red bolero top and my pretty high heeled red Mary Jane shoes. I look good, if I do say so myself. So after checking my school messenger bag has everything, I walk out to get some breakfast. Make up can wait until after. Therefore, I walk out of my room.

Air-deprivation alert! Or a perfect first sight for this sunny morning. Warren Peace, in dark, low-riding jeans and pulling a tight red t-shirt over his head. I walk out just in time to get a new angle of those perfect abs. Damn, who wouldn't want a piece of that? Earth to Sammy! React! Wake up girl! Okay, breathe! There! Shirt finally on, my brain can resume its normal functions. I look up only to see him smirking at me. ALREADY?! It's not even 8 o'clock and he's already caught me staring?! WTF?!?! Damn him!

"Morning Tempest." He says as he walks past me and down the stairs. _Tempest_? He gave me a nickname? And a Shakespearean one at that? I'm impressed. Not many people read Shakespeare these days, as far as I know. I personally love it. Of course, there is no way of knowing if he meant the play. But I can think whatever I want. Or... I suppose I can always ask....

I giggle, which is very unlike me, and dash down the stairs. I arrive at the kitchen to see that Warren and I are the only ones already up. Is this safe? For either one of us? But I might as well take whatever chance I'm given.

"Why did you call me 'Tempest'?" I ask, with a curious look. He turns around. He's making pancakes?! Yum!

"You're Storm's daughter, right?"

"Yeah."

"And you got your mom's powers, correct?"

"Yes. Hey, how do you know about that?" he smiles. He looks even better than when he smirks.

"I saw you." HUH? "Yesterday? You and your mom caused that rain, then you focused on making it go away. Your eyes lit up like hers."

"And you saw this... how?" I say, astonished that he was so observing.

"I was one of the last ones in, since I don't really mind getting wet." Alright I have to stop giving his words my own connotations! I shivered at that one! Fortunately he doesn't see that one, so I just nod, and carry on with my interrogation.

"But why 'Tempest'?" he looks at me. After a moment of silence, he moves his hand, motioning for me to elaborate. Déjà vu to yesterday at Mad Science. "I mean, where did you get the name from?"

"What made me think of that word?" I nod again. "The play." He says, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Oh, right, I think I forgot to mention that, beneath the whole, hottie, badass pyro act, the guy's a bookworm. How cute is that?

"You've read it?"

"Yeah. I really liked it." Okay, I have to stop having things in common with this guy.

"Why?"

"Why did I like it?" he suddenly flipped some pancakes, setting on a plate nearby the ones that were ready. I forgot he'd been cooking all this time. It makes me feel kinda bad cause he's been multitasking while I have been struggling to form coherent sentences.

"Uh hum."

"Because of the ending." Alright, he got me there. He smiles at my confused look. I'm about to melt, but first, I want to hear this. "Everyone thinks that, in the end, Prospero will have his revenge upon his enemies, yet he doesn't. He turns out to be a good person. He's not blinded by revenge, he thinks things through and makes the right choices. At least that's how I see it."

Ah, so that's why he likes it so much. I think we all know that Warren's dad is no other than Barron Battle, a super villain who was taken down and thrown in jail by the Commander and Jetstream. I guess it does make sense that he sees a bit of himself in Prospero. Don't you just love this guy? Where else are you going to find a deep, sensitive, sensible, smart, hot guy that can melt you with a smile, cooks, can make swirly chocolate mousse, AND is a pyro? This guy is husband material of such a great quality! But I try not to let all this out. I just smile back, nod, yet again, and go over to the fridge to see if there's any orange juice.

"Orange juice is on the lowest shelf on the door." I turn around as fast as I can. I'm starting to think he's also a telepath. "Lucky guess."

"Yeah, right! 'Lucky guess' my ass! How did you know I was thinking about orange juice?" this is important, and it may also explain why he always seems to press exactly the right buttons.

"You know my mom?" I half-nod, half-shake my head. I know his mom is a super heroine, I just don't know her power. Or name. "She's Pace. Which is actually Italian for '_peace_'. Anyway, her powers consist of knowing people's emotions, thoughts, past traumas, you name it, and controlling them, in order to calm down her enemies. She's never used it to bring people against each other though. And she's also a healer. There's been talk of having her be ambassador for all super humans but with this 'war' there was never time. I inherited a part of her powers." Oh Goddess, somebody save me. "It's not quite telepathy, it kinda like... reading people. Knowing what they want, what they need, what they're looking for." Alright, I'm about to panic. "Don't. I keep it off most of the times. But I'm still slightly sleepy, which tends to make my control on my 'reading' slip a bit. That's how I knew."

"Long answer. But I guess honesty's better than anything." He smiles and nods. "Anyway, as long as you stay out of my head or what ever it is you can do, we're good."

He smirks. Oh Goddess, why - ? No! He's still sleepy!! He may catch whatever it is you're thinking so shut it! _'And what exactly is it that you don't want me to read?'_ Thanking the heavens that I didn't faint I turn to look at him, to see him smirking widely, putting the pile of pancakes on the table.

"What happened to 'it's not quite telepathy'?!" he laughs.

"It's not, but how did you expect my mom to control people? She has to be able to project her thoughts!" he says, the smirk back in place. I'm so _fucking_ doomed. I look at the kitchen clock. It's 7.20 am. Doesn't that mean we're late?

"Will is, in any case." Warren says from over his shoulder as he moves towards the stairs.

"I thought you said you kept it off most of the time." I retort angrily. He chuckles.

"Yeah, but it's fun keeping you on edge. WILL!" he yells, making me jump. Who knew he had such a strong voice. This guy could make Boomer shut up! "WILLIAM THEODORE STRONGHOLD! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE, OR YOU DON'T GET PANCAKES!" we hear a crash from upstairs, and laugh. Apparently Will doesn't want to miss the pancakes.

"I though that was Mrs. Stronghold's job." I mention, with my own smirk.

"Perhaps, but they were out late, last night. Emergency call from downtown. So I get the pleasure of making him squirm today." He really doesn't seem to mind. "I don't. She's like a second mom." This time I don't mind having him read me. He is one sweet guy, when he wants to.

"But wouldn't yelling wake them up?" he nods.

"Yeah, but that's actually a good thing. By doing this I let them sleep in a bit, but that doesn't mean they don't have a day life. So I wake them up, take care of breakfast and get Will to school, in one go. After that, they organise their time as they need to." I'm impressed. And he doesn't need to read me to know that. He smiles at the look on my face. "It's the least I can do. When I became friends with Will, they didn't judge me, they welcomed me. And now that my mom has to go to fight, they offer me a room. I owe them." I wait for him to turn over to a boxer-clad Will before I think again. Of course, the sight is nowhere near as stunning as Warren's version. Okay, now it's safe to think this: I LOVE THIS GUY!!!!!

"We're going to be late." I state. It's a fact. There's just no way around it. Will had to even call Ron, bus driver, and tell him we were going to be late. Apparently again.

"Little ray o' sunshine aren't ya?" Warren smirks. I make a face and turn to Will.

"Now what?" he also smirks. Uh oh.

"Now, we fly to school." I brighten up.

"Awesome! Do you know where the school is?" he handed me a device that looked suspiciously like a GPS. I turn it in my hand and read the back: "Sky High Locator". Cool...

"They give all flying seniors this. They'll probably give you yours today, since you weren't in tutor period yesterday." Warren says. I shrug.

"What are we waiting for?"

"Nothing."

Warren smirks, jumping into the air with a jet of fire under his feet. Show off. Will also takes off, holding the GPS out in front of him. Calling the air around me, I lift myself into the air for the first time in weeks. I'd almost forgotten the thrill. I smile, happier than I've been in a while, close my eyes and let the wind twirl me around for a moment. I feel a pair of strong, warm hands hold my waist and I open my eyes and look behind me to see Warren, with a smile on his face, nodding towards Will, who's already heading towards the school, wherever it may be today.

I nod, then head off. He follows me closely, then stretches out his hand. I look at him.

"Give me your bag, you seem as if you haven't flown in a while." I could kiss this guy. But I just stuff my shoes, and bolero top into the bag, hand it over, and start zooming around, relishing in the feel of the wind against my skin. I'll be a bit tired when I get to school, but who cares? No tiredness can compare to the feeling of the wind in my hair, the freedom of my current weightlessness. It's relaxing to say the least. I can feel Warren's eyes on me, as scorching as the fire in his veins. I have no idea why he's staring at me. But at the moment I don't have a care in the world. I suppose I must be a bit of a show: my wild, white hair, my bare feet, twirling and zooming, so happy that there's not a cloud in sight. What can I say? I like poetry, and I like corniness. It's fairly noticeable in the way I talk sometimes.

Finally, we get to school. It's way outside of Maxville. The skies are clear, but there is no danger of being seen cause the school produces its own cloud cover. My hair is looking wild, but I just pull it into a particularly messy bun and forget about it. Warren pulls out my shoes and top before we land and throws them at me. Catching them, I put the shoes on, throw the bolero top on, and land next to Layla, Maj, Zach and Ethan, who did manage to catch the bus. But I think the flight is more than worth being late.

"Hey guys." I say as cheerful as I've been in a while, taken my bag from Warren, and smiling at him in thanks. He smiles back. Thank Goddess Layla and Maj were there. After the flight, and that smile, my legs are so not working properly. LOL. Alright, time for school. It appears we landed just in time. That's the bell. We head straight off to class. Hold on. What class do I have? I can hear Warren snorting so I just turn to him for an answer.

"You are in every single one of my classes so you might as well stick by me." Oh no. How am I supposed to concentrate in class, let alone _pass_ if he's in all my classes?! But wait a minute! Logan gave me permission not to give a shit about classes! YAY! Now, I just have to hope he doesn't catch me staring and he hasn't read all this. What are the odds? No snort so far, so the odds are good.

"Well, care to tell me what class it is I'm supposed to be following you to?" he chuckles. Uggh! Why does he have to make it so difficult to stay angry at him?

"Hero History." I stare at him. Is that even a class? "Unfortunately for us, there is such a class, and it's THE most boring class ever. And the teacher is just like Harry Potter's History teacher, safe for the fact that ours is very much alive. A pity really. Because this one doesn't even make a grand entrance."

Warren was right. Again. This class has to be the most boring class ever devised in the history of schools. How can someone manage to make grand battles between the greatest heroes and villains of the world sound so fucking boring? I will never know. I've been sitting at the very back of this class, next to Warren, for 30 minutes, and I'm already on the verge of falling asleep.

'_Warren?_' I think. And I hope he's listening.

'_Yeah?_' YAY ME!

'_Why didn't you warn me about this?_'

'_I did._' He thought back. He's not even bothering lifting his head. He's just trying to sleep resting his head on his arms. Which is really a great view if you consider the fact the, by bending his arms as he is, he continuously flexes his arm muscles. But I suppose it's not a good idea for me to be thinking about it in the middle of a mental conversation. Suddenly he lifts his upper body fully, stretching and flexing until I'm a hair away from drooling.

'_You so totally did that on purpose._' I mentally throw at him accusatorily. He smirks.

'_Admit it. You completely walked into that one! You need to get a hold of your thoughts._'

'_Did NOT!_' I mentally squeal, pouting as only I can. Or so I've been told. Did you know you can mentally squeal?

'_Did too. And that is a very cute pout. So cute, in fact, that I might just give in. To what I have no idea. But I didn't know you could mentally squeal. Leave it to you to find out._' I half-pout half-smile. He let's out a breathless chuckle, trying to be as quiet as possible.

'_You're supposed to give in to my charms and go on a guilt trip for trying to knowingly seduce me!_' I retort, looking around to make sure no one's noticed. Not that we're being particularly loud (is it just me or does that sound... wrong?) but a couple of pointed looks and hand gestures are sometimes enough to make people turn to look at you. His smirk becomes wider.

'_I don't do guilt trips for that. And I didn't know you needed further seducing ._' I gasp as quietly as I can in my indignation. How dare he say that?! He tries to keep the laughter at bay. Then...

'_AHA! So you ARE trying to seduce me!_' he stops laughing and turns to look straight into my eyes, with the most seductive smirk I've ever seen. ALERT, ALERT, oxygen levels in the brain are dangerously low!!!!! SHIT!!! What the fuck is he doing? He's leaning towards me! We could get caught! He's grabbing my arm, pulling me towards him. His hand is so warm! And strong, and right now, it's the only thing that's holding me up since I seem to have turned into a spineless pile of goo. Oh Goddess what does he think he's doing?!?!?!

"Oh I didn't do it on purpose... to begin with... but the results were so much fun... I just had to turn up the heat... and you haven't disappointed..." I don't think I ever truly grasped the concept of being turned on before this. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think I'm entitled to being this flustered if I can literally feel Warren Peace's lips brushing against my ear, his breath tickling my neck, and his deep voice whispering stuff like that , making me shiver, purposely making my thoughts go down the gutter. And if he keeps this up I'm going to stay in that gutter for a while. I swear to what ever higher being wants to listen that I've never been closer to grabbing his head and kissing him!

RIIIIING!!!! Okay, so I literally jump a foot because of the fucking bell. Warren let's go of my arm, grabs his bag, then my bag, then pulls me off my feet and out of the class. I have to thank the guy for it because there is no way in hell I could've left the class on my own. Not in my current catatonic state. Through the concrete-dense fog surrounding my brain, I begin to wonder what class we have next, and how the hell I'll be able to pretend to be paying attention.

"It's Mad Science. And don't worry, I think I can hold your interest for the next 40 minutes, until you recover your normal brain functions." I don't need to look at him to realise he probably has the biggest smirk ever. And I can't blame him. I would too if I had to be practically carrying myself to the next class. He chuckles. "How is it that you didn't see that coming?" that finally makes me react.

"You're the people reader, and I don't yet know you well enough to know all the crazy ways you have to.. to... UGHH!!"

For the first time in our... _acquaintance_, I hear him laugh. We're turning heads as we walk down the corridor towards Mad Science. Or rather he is. Although I don't suppose it's every day that Warren Peace half-carries, half-drags the new girl to a class. For apparently no reason. Girls left, right and centre are swooning for him and glaring daggers at me. But I can't care. Not after what he just told me. Goddess I can't get over that!

"Well get over it, cause we're mere steps away from Medulla's class." I glare at him. As much as I can.

"Oh shut it, this is your fault." He has the nerve, yet again, to look amused.

"My fault? I'm not to blame for whatever effect I may have on certain people!"

"HA! Don't gimme that! You may not be able to control said effect but - " we duck our heads and I shut up, as we pass in front of Medulla's desk, just as he is passing roll call. Finally, we sit at our desk. "but you can at least make sure you don't affect people so much that you actually have to carry them half-way around the school!" I finish in a loud whisper. He snorts quietly.

"Come on, Tempest, I'm a guy. Do you really think that if I have such an effect on girls, and that I know about it, I'm not going to use it on the one girl I find most interesting?" I do a double take. And it seems that the nickname has stuck.

"You find me... interesting?" he smiles.

"You should know you are a very appealing girl."

"Appealing? Seriously? Is that the best you can come up with?" he rolls his eyes at me.

"Okay, so what do you want me to say? That you're hot? Fine! You, Samantha Munroe, are hot! You're an extremely attractive girl, and you're very special, in your own "different" kind of way. Am I attracted to you? Of course I am! Was that what you needed to hear?" To say I'm surprised will be the understatement of the millennium. That wasn't what I expected to hear, but I sure as hell am pleased that I heard it. If that's what he comprehends in his definition of appealing I'll never complain to him calling me appealing again. He laughs quietly.

"You truly are one of a kind, Tempest." I smile.

"Aren't we all?" Warren huffs.

"Like hell we are. Sure, we're supposed to be, but so many people in this planet strive to be 'normal'. So many idiots around the world just want to be part of a group that requires a standard of... well, normalcy. Personality is underrated, attitude is sneered at, and being different is the world's greatest fear. It's a mass of people wanting to be exactly the same as the next person, not understanding that the beauty of this world lays in the variety of its people."

At this point, Medulla tells us to shut up, and keep quiet. Apparently we have a very important class right then. So Warren and I have to keep our traps shut and work, for once. Damn him.

After that, the day transforms into a flurry of classes during which I just can't talk to Warren. He had apparently finished saying what he had to say on the subject, but I can feel that there's something missing of his speech. Which, by the way was something I never expected. Is this guy deep or what? Finally, at lunch I see him sitting at our table so I go to sit next to him. I am about to open my mouth when Layla appears out of thin air, panting.

"Warren, apparently the shock of a new girl saved you from yesterday's attack, but the senior girls have a whole parade ready for you. Go hide somewhere. Make it good."

"Aw, shit!" okay what is going on here? A parade? What are they on about? Is it his birthday? I look at Warren. "I'll tell you once we're safe." Oh, okay. Whoa, whoa, whoa! WE? What has this got to do with me?!

Apparently a lot. Warren grabs my hand and makes me run with him down a corridor. Suddenly, a group of girls turns the corner.

"He's HERE!" WTF?!

"Later!" he yells. He grabs my hand and runs in the opposite direction. I take a moment to look back, confident that he won't let me crash into anything and I see the biggest swarm of girls I've ever seen. They seem to be dressed for a special occasion. W...T...F...?

Then, the screaming started. But it was all so mixed up, and the running didn't help either. This school has a lotta turns! Plus, Warren was the one who was holding my hand and making me run away with him from a bunch of squealing teenagers. I was dizzy. All I could make out over the yells, was something along the lines of "Warren we love you" and "What's that bitch doing with him?!" I guess they didn't really consider the possibility of me just being an innocent bystander.

"Warren, have _you_ considered the possibility –" I let out a small shriek at this point as he pulls me into a cleaning closet and bolts the door.

"I'm running away from those girls because they want to parade for me." He whispers. He says only just slightly out of breath. Man the guy's in some serious shape cause I'm already starting to positively pant for breath! He raises an eyebrow and smirks. I grimace slightly.

"Okay, change of subject. Is it your birthday or something?" he grimaces now. He looks very handsome when he frowns... but I shouldn't really be thinking that because he could catch it. Too damn late. Damn that smirk.

"No, it's not my birthday. Ask Layla later. It's so ridiculous. But thanks." Damn this man and his whispers and damn this fucking closet for being so small. I can feel his every breath on my collarbone. Damn him also for having at least a foot worth of height over me, heels and all.

"Is that why she gave you the heads up?" he nods. "And have you considered that they are most likely checking every single closet for you?" he looks at me as if I were stupid. Nice to know some things just don't change.

"One, I don't think you're stupid. Just a bit air-headed every once in a while. And two, I know they are looking. As annoying as they are, I have to admit they are thorough." I shrug.

"So, what now?" he shrugs. Then... "Hey, I have an idea!" he looks at me. He raises an eyebrow, still waiting for me to spill my master plan. "Let's go hide in the Principal's office!" so now he's staring at me as if I've lost my mind. "It's a good idea!" I can practically see the wheels turning in his head.

"You can't possibly see that, seeing as there are no wheels in my head. But I guess it _is_ a good idea." I smile. Finally he acknowledges it! "I already told you. I don't think you're stupid." He adds with a smile. So no we have a plan. Only trouble is, his stalkers have apparently reached our closet. "Okay, NOW what?"

"Use your powers!" Come again say WHAT?! He huffs. So cute! BAD SAMMY! You're about to be attacked by a flock of killer girls with a crush on the pyro you're currently hiding with in a very tight closet! THIS IS NOT THE MOMENT!!!!

"You're right, it's not! But you can use your powers. Control what little breeze there is in the corridor, throw them off, while we run for the principal's office!" AHHH, NOW he's making sense. He smirks, shaking his head.

"Okay." I wait until they are close enough so that the attack will be effective but not too close so that we won't be able to escape. My eyes start glowing whiter than my hair and suddenly a gush of wind knocks half of the girls off their feet while the other half whines about not being able to pass through. Warren and I burst out of the closet, he grabs my hand, yet again, seeing as I have no clue as to where the frigging office is and we set off.

Apparently, the office wasn't that far. Either that or we've run a serious distance from the cafeteria. In any case, a few turns and corridors later, we finally make it to the office. Apparently, Powers' secretary is out for lunch because there is no one behind the counter. Taking our only shot, we jump behind it, laughing our asses off.

"Care to explain now?" I ask. I'm now down right panting, between the runs and the laughing.

"They're my... how can I put this... _fan club_." He practically spits out the last part. But I'm rolling on the floor with laughter. He's running away from the FANCLUB?! You gotta be kidding me! "I'm not kidding! Ask the hippie or purple girl! They'll vouch for it. Sometimes I just can't wait for graduation." I stop laughing and raise my eyebrows.

"Oh you think this is going to stop after graduation? Ever heard of college? You know, big place, with lots of young adults, where you're supposedly learning but in reality it's just one big party/orgy?" he has to laugh at that. Have I mentioned I love making him laugh? Oops. Let's hope he didn't hear that. He seems to be too busy laughing. Good!

"So what's the prognosis for my college life?" I smile, then make a mock worried face.

"Things don't look good for you, young man." We start laughing all over again. Suddenly the bell rings, signalling our return to classes. "You think it's safe?"

"It is, they are all returning to class at this time. Not to mention I doubt they want to miss today's Safe the Citizen." Warren and I look at each other. Uh oh. We peek from behind the secretary's counter to see Principal Powers standing there, luckily with a very amused look on her face. We sigh with relief. "Now run along. You wouldn't want to disappoint your fans." I can see Warren holding in a groan. LOL.

Thanking the Principal, we set off towards the gym. Then I realise I have to get my uniform.

"What uniform?"

"My X-uniform. I don't have the school-issued uniform. So the Principal allowed me to use mine. Which is just as well, cause I love my uniform!" he smirks, shaking his head. After our detour towards my locker, we run over to the gym. Only to find the arena is not out today. Walking over to where Layla, Will, Maj, Zach and Ethan are standing, we see that everyone is wearing their uniforms. And that all the girls are torn between hating me, and looking at Warren.

"What's going on?" I ask. Layla smiles at us, as if knowing what had happened. I have to remember to tell her that NOTHING happened.

"Today we're just going to be practicing. They normally put us in groups of 4 like a mini-Save-the-Citizen. So you guys better go change." I nod.

"Hey, do you know what group I'll be in?" I don't want to land myself a group of the fan club!

"Probably with us. That's to say Will, Warren and me. Will and Warren are always together, and seeing as Will always picks me, and we'd be one person short, and you're the new girl and our friend, you'll probably land in our group." I simply nod. The 'probably with us' had sufficed me but Layla's to cheery to be end it there. Warren snorts quietly. Then we set off for our respective changing rooms. I just can't wait to see the look on people's faces when I walk out with an X-team uniform. LOL. I pull it on, zip up my boots, adjust my hair into a tight ponytail and put on the hair band. A classic from my mom's, she had one made especially for me. I personally love it. But I already told you about that! Anyway, Layla and Maj come in to look for me just as I finish stuffing my clothes into the bag.

"OH MY GOD! Where did you get that?!" I laugh. Damn it feels good!

"I come from Xavier's Institute. My mother is co-leader of the X-men team. I got it last year for my 16th birthday!" they are still gawking at the suit. I smile. Then they smile at me, shake their heads, and lead the way out. But I stop short of the entrance to the gym. I don't need Warren to see me drooling like yesterday, over him. So I stick to the shadows for a while. Layla and Maj are giving me the "come out" look, but I signal for them to wait. And so, hot pyro comes out. YUM. I hadn't noticed that the pants were THAT tight, or that the upper part was as fitted. DAMN he looks good. He pays no attention to all the glaring boys and drooling girls though, and heads straight for the gang. This was exactly what I wanted. I step out of the changing rooms, seemingly under a spotlight, and catch Warren's eyes. He smirks at first, seeing my dazed look, but then, he sees the uniform. OH YEAH! HE TOTALLY CHECKED ME OUT!!!!!

So as my heels (yes people, my uniform boots have high heels, got a problem with that?) start click-clacking on the gym floor, people turn towards me. Perfect entrance or what? HAHA! This is what I love about being me! People are STARING. Thinking like this kinda makes me feel like some sort of self-centred narcissist. Have I mentioned that, apart from the high-heeled boots, my suit has practically no back, the classic "Storm" 'wings', and is skin tight? No? Oh well, now you know. This is seriously fun. I don't need no special power to know that except for the gang, which I suppose I can now call MY gang, every girl is glaring and every boy is drooling. Gradually though, people go back to their own business. Thankfully. I like attention every once in a while. I think everybody does. But being under constant scrutiny is not in my to-do list.

But you have no idea just how great it feels to have Warren's eyes following my every move. Obviously he's not one to feel embarrassment. Uh oh. What's he doing? He doesn't need to come near me! Not in THAT! I'm fine as it is, the view is great and everything but as cool as I feel in my suit, he's an expert at turning up the heat! A heat that I, literally and metaphorically, CAN'T control. No, no, stay back! Down boy! Bad Warren! Bad Warren! And.... brain meltdown... why does he have to grab me by the waist in a tight suit with no sleeves?! And I don't need to stand this close to... alright, make that, be pressed against him, like this... oh Goddess what now?!

I don't think it's necessary to mention the fact that I can feel every single one of his muscles.

"No, it's not necessary to tell me. But I don't think it's fair that you complain about the effect I have on you and you pay no care to the effect you have on... others..." the will power I needed to hold in what probably could've been a moan... he shouldn't be allowed to do that! His voice isn't just a whisper. It is a sexy whine. It goes without saying that I would be on the floor by now if he wasn't holding me up. And let me tell you: ... sorry, I can't think straight yet. Gimme a sec. Breath in, breath out, count to 10. Okay, that's better. Let me tell you that he's holding me as close as is humanly possible!

"Uh... others?" I'm stuttering again. Why, rather HOW can he make me.... I don't know what he does to me, but he does it with an ease I don't particularly appreciate.

"You want me to say only me? Fine. You do affect me." I don't know how this looks to everybody else, I'll have to ask Layla afterwards if my brain is not completely vegetated by then. But right now, he is whispering things in my ear, pressing me against him, and- oh Goddess, please tell me that is NOT what I think it is, cause if it is I'll jump this guy, right here, right now. I bite my lip in an attempt to suppress another moan. He simply chuckles. This guy has no shame.

"And those are the teams! START!" Boomer. How dare he break the spell like that! I was off in my own little world being pressed up against the hottest guy in the whole, wide world, and he tells us to go practice Goddess knows what stupid exercise! Son of a b....

Warren let's out a bark of laughter and I just know he's been in my head. Like he's been doing the rest of the day. I have to fix that. But maybe when he's got other clothes on and my head is a bit clearer.

Layla pulls me away from him by the hand to where we are supposed to be practicing. What? Don't know, don't give a shit.

Okay, so it's about 4.30 pm, and right now I'm lying on my bed, trying to calm down after the whole 'pressed-up-against-Warren' thing from earlier today. I wish I could be more detailed about what happened from then up to now. But I have absolutely no clue. It's just a blur. So don't ask. Anyway, I need to talk to him. But he's not here yet. He's doing a shift at this Chinese restaurant a couple o' blocks away. Gosh I need to talk to him...

*Blink* 6.45 pm?!?!?!?! I slept over two hours?! How come? Hey! This means Warren's probably home! Get up Sam. Girl, get up. You need to go talk to him. Shit, Samantha, get the fuck up!

Alright. I'm up. Now get comfy, THEN got talk to him. I throw on the same tank and shorts from yesterday while I hear footsteps up the corridor and the attic stairs. Now he's definitely home!

I go out the door and head for his room. I just have to tell him to stay out of my head. That's all. That's it. That's all the needs to be done, or said. I go up the attic stairs and raise my hand to knock on his door.

"Come in Tempest." Son of a b.... ugh, what ever, I'm coming in! So I barge in, throwing the words at him.

"Okay, see here, you can't just... just... oh... my... Goddess..." the bastard is in nothing but a frigging TOWEL!!!!! This is worse than that McSteamy scene! He is literally dripping, covered in nothing but a piece of whatever it is that towels are made off. And that is about as coherent as I'm getting...

"You never really were that coherent, were you?" he has the guts to smirk at me. Sam, turn around and say what you came to say. Then get the HELL out!

"Just get out of my head."

"Why? It's fun." Oh, now I'm gonna kill him!

"Fun?" I say turning around and walking over to him. "It's not fun for me when you... when you... shit." He is turning up his body temperature, drying himself off immediately, and given off a load of steam. How is it that every time I look at this guy he comes up with a new way of making me drool? I'm a foot away from him, staring, and completely unable to do anything aside of that. And breathing. What's worse is that the heat is affecting me, the steam is making me sweat. I hate that.

"Sam?" so now he resorts to waving a hand in my face. I manage to blink and look up at his face instead of his chest.

"Yeah? Oh right. Just, stay out of my head. I don't care if it's fun, or if you get a kick out of it, or if your self esteem needs it. Mine's suffering because of it. So stuff it." He chuckles.

"You are right. This is an invasion of your privacy and I will reduce it to a minimum. I'm afraid I've gotten used to it so I might accidentally read a couple of things now and again. As for your self esteem suffering for it, I wouldn't think it would, given the little display earlier today." His voice is low, implications bubbling under the surface of his words, and I suddenly don't know if he's talking about my display... or his.

"Both." Oh. Well, at least the steam has cleared off and I'm starting to think better.

"Yours is your problem. As for my 'display', as you call it. That is my X-uniform. Made for me, designed by me, and approved by my dad. I don't see how you can have a problem with it. And you customised your uniform yourself." He laughs out right. Gosh this isn't helping me!

"I don't have a problem with it. On the contrary, I think I made it quite clear that I very much like it." I gulp at this. I still can't forget the feeling of his uniform pants tight against my thigh. I was a hair away from jumping him. As I already said. "Regardless, it was still a display of confidence. And if you think you need help with self-esteem, then practice."

"What? Like you?" I retort. He can be terribly annoying when he wants to!

"_With_ me." Okay that was unexpected!

"Say what?" he half-huffs, half-smiles. We are seemingly getting somewhere.

"You say I attack your self-esteem. Then practice not being affected by me."

"I guess that does make sense. But I don't want any weird stuff! No... groping, no whispering in my ear, no pulling me towards you when I least expect it..." he laughs, moving away from me, towards his closet for something to wear.

"I will admit to the last two, but when exactly did I grope you?" he asks, amused.

"Oh you know what I mean!" he laughs again and I manage a small smile.

"Don't stay there standing. You can sit on the bed if you want." Sit on Warren Peace's bed. This I have to do! I launch my self on it, bouncing slightly. I can hear him laughing. Then I hear a faint plop. He has started throwing his clothes on the bed, next to me. And the first item of clothing is...

"Boxer-briefs?" I suppress a shiver as he turns to look at me.

"What?" I shrug.

"I always pictured you as more of a boxers kind of guy." He shrugs.

"I find these more comfortable." I personally find them more sexy, but I have the right to hit him if he comments about that. He admitted it was an invasion of my privacy! Despite all that, he still chuckles.

"Thanks."

"Ugh, piss off." He laughs again.

"Okay, you're either gonna have to leave, or turn around." I look at him.

"HUH?" he huffs, mockingly annoyed.

"I have to dress..."

"Oh." The idea of being in the same room as Warren while he's dressing is mind-numbing. To the point were he finally has to get over to me, lift me from the bed, and set me down looking in the other direction. He sure knows how to tie that towel.

"You have a lot of work to do." I nearly turned to growl something at him when I remember he's probably still stark naked on the other side of the bed, pulling on clothes. So I suppress the impulse, the groan and stay put.

"Done." HUH?

"How can you have fin.... asshole." He laughs. He wasn't done. He had simply finished pulling on his underwear and was half-way done with pulling a pair of sweat pants on. And from the peek I take over my shoulder I have only one thing to say: he has a very nice ass. BAD SAMMY!!!!!

"Alright, now I do have my pants on." I turn around just a bit. Yeah. For once, he's telling the truth. I still have to control myself from staring at his chest but it's better than nothing. "Now come on. We have to get to the kitchen. Mr. and Mrs. Stronghold were called when I got here, so dinner's up to us. And Will is, most likely, already complaining about the lack of food." I laugh while he grabs a shirt and pulls me off the bed towards the door. After these two days, you can't blame me for taking a moment to contemplate what else this year may have in store for me...


	7. Wolverine, Hot Pyro Hot Pyro, Wolverine

CHAPTER 7: "Wolverine, this is Hot Pyro. Hot Pyro, the Wolverine."

Alright, so I'm not about to waste your time on every tiny little detail of what has happened this week. Suffice it to say I've had enough close encounters with Warren to last me a lifetime, but I'm not gonna settle for that. School is going surprisingly smoothly and the fan club attacks are always something to look forward to. Surprisingly enough, and regardless of a now very tangible sexual tension, Warren and I have become very good friends. To the point where we now spend more time annoying the crap out of each other, in a fun way, than with anyone else. It's awesome, I have to admit. Who would've known that you could find such a hot best friend in a week?

"Earth to Tempest!" See what I mean? "Finish your breakfast already? The rest of the gang is coming over to help out with whatever it is that you want to do with your room. You could at least be focusing on that for a while."

"Aren't you just the cutest thing." I answer, sarcasm simply overflowing from that phrase. He smiles and everything seems to brighten up. Well not quite, but... whatever. I can already hear him laughing. I turn to him to retort something, but my words are cut short by the door bell. Mr. and Mrs. Stronghold are out showing a house, so Warren just gets up, giving Will and I time to finish our breakfast and heads off to open the door.

"Yes?" HUH? Who is it?

"Hi, is Samantha here?" I get up squealing and run towards the gruff voice I haven't heard in too many days.

"LOGAN!" I scream, jumping into his arms.

"There y'are love!" He says. He hugs me as tight as I hug him and for a moment, my eyes begin to get wet. And as contradictorily as my brain normally works, the sky starts to let go of a few drops of water while the sun shines stronger than before. Suddenly, a rainbow forms across the sky. I can hear Will coming to a stop next to Warren. I let go of Logan, only to see Remy and Rogue standing there as well. I jump towards Remy and hug him tight.

"I've missed you all!" he smiles.

"Bonjour Cherie! 'Ow are you doing?" I let go of him and proceed to carefully but just as enthusiastically hug Rogue. As usual, she's wearing gloves, pants and a thin but long-sleeved t-shirt.

"I'm doing great actually!" I smile at all of them. That's when I see the strange look Logan is giving Warren. Uh oh... I wave my hand in front of him.

"Um... Logan? You still with us?"

"Who's this?" I have a bad feeling about this...

"This is Warren. He's Will's best friend. He's also staying with the Strongholds."

"Why?" thank you Rogue!

"My mom is also fighting the SRA. And Mrs. Stronghold didn't like the idea of me staying home alone. So I moved in during the summer, into the attic." Rogue smiles at him and nods. Remy also smiles, as if agreeing but Logan still looks doubtful. Damn him and his nose! See, I have a theory. Humans exude a certain odour when they are... involved. Or when they want to be. It's a natural tell-tale sign that you're lusting after someone. And I have to admit I can smell it on me and on Warren, thanks to my enhanced senses. Which makes me feel great, but Logan (and this is where the theory actually starts)... probably doesn't think like that... (That's something else about my gorgeous best friend of a pyro: his senses, without being genetically enhanced, are extremely powerful! Sometimes he smells stuff before I do, and his aim is awesome, thanks to an amazingly finely tuned hand-eye coordination.)

"Who are your parents? We're probably fighting along side them..." Damn you Logan! He clearly stated it's his MOM who's out there doing the fighting! I turn to Warren. His dad is always a touchy subject. Thankfully, Warren is making good use of his reading powers and is keeping his cool. It's surprising how he can't stay cooler than I can...

"My mom is Pace, my dad is Barron Battle." I see Rogue's eyebrows hitting her hairline, Remy whistles quietly, and Logan's eyes narrow. I send a pleading look at Rogue and she nods.

"Hey, can you guys help us unload some stuff we brought Sammy? The little airhead forgot them at home..." Will and Warren quietly head out, and, though Remy wants to stay and listen in, Rogue grabs him by the hair and drags him out.

"A'ight love, care to explain?" EXPLAIN? Explain what? Oh right! The smell...

"All you need to know is that nothing has happened." (_Yet_)_._ I say as if that settled everything. I turn to help with the unloading process but Logan stops me.

"You think I'm buying that?" I huff. Men are impossible!

"If we _had_ done anything, then that would also be smell-able! If you can't smell it, then it hasn't happened! You of all people should know THAT. And besides, back at the mansion there were teens all over the place smelling worse than this!" He smirks at that one. Ok, we're getting somewhere. "Can you just... forget it?" his smirk gets wider...

"You said so yourself: back at the mansion we knew of several people in the same situation and they were our inside joke." Oh this can't be good. "So just you wait until I tell Rogue and Remy about this!" WHAT?! NO!!!! "And besides, could you ever block out that smell when back at home?" No, I couldn't. And when you're a teenager, smelling lust is pretty annoying... I shake my head. "Then I can't forget about it. Sorry love. No can do." My shoulders drop. Damn it. "In any case, I trust you. So... yeah, whatever..." That's Logan's way of giving me his permission to jump Warren. He better not read this...

"So, what are you doin' today?" I smile. This is a much safer subject.

"Well, some friends were coming over to help me paint my room and such." Logan snorts, and then grins.

"Oh, well, we'll help then." I smile as big as I can and hug him. Isn't he the greatest?

I hear Will, Warren, Rogue and Remy come back in. I let go of Logan, walk over to them and wink at Warren. He gives me a small smirk.

'_We are so talking about this later._' Oh shit...

In about 20 more minutes, the whole gang is here. Introductions are over with, (Ethan nearly had a heart attack...) and we all head over to my room to help out. Between Will, Warren, Logan, Remy, Rogue, Layla and I, my bed gets send to the garden, then the vanity, the desk, and every other piece of furniture available, while Ethan, Zach and Maj get the paint cans, and cover the carpet and the doors with plastic.

"Thank whatever higher being is available that that closet is part of the wall. It would've been, by far, the heaviest thing..." I nudge Warren for his ever useful comment. Layla, Maj and Rogue giggle while all the guys nod in agreement. I groan.

"A girl has to be able to dress herself decently!" Warren huffs.

"Decently, fine, but you have a whole mall's worth of clothes inside that closet!" The guys, Logan and Remy snort in laughter. Rogue, Layla and Maj take a defensive stance.

"Oh shut up." I say.

We then proceed with the painting. We covered all the doors with paper or plastic, so we get started straight away. I chose a lilac base for the walls and I'll have everyone imprint their right hand on the ceiling with their respective signatures under them. Everyone grabs their own colour: Layla runs for an apple green, Will chooses an electric blue, Ethan grabs the orange, Zach takes the most noticeable yellow (it is a white ceiling) Magenta grabs a darker purple, Logan chooses a silvery grey, Remy grabs a chocolaty red, Rogue grabs an electric green. Warren simply turns to his favourite shade of blood red.

After that, (which, by the way, took a couple of hours. These guys are sooo messy! Thank God we covered the carpet as well!!) I start decorating the walls and ceiling. I'm pretty good at painting, if I do say so myself. Starting with the ceiling I draw the shape of a few lightning bolts here and there, filling in a couple of gaps, which I'll paint afterwards in that silvery grey Logan used and probably Zach's yellow. Then I grab my own aquamarine can and start painting lines across the walls. Just random waves, sometimes adding a bit of white, or blue or a darker shade of the aqua. In the end it looks as if there are aquamarine coloured ribbons across the whole of my room. Everybody's gone down. Maj is off with Zach and Ethan getting some pizza for lunch and ice-cream for dessert. Meanwhile Layla, Will, Warren, Logan, Remy and Rogue are getting ready to take the furniture back into my room.

As I was grabbing the grey and yellow cans and wondering how I was going to be able to paint my ceiling, Warren walks in.

"Wow." I giggle.

"Does it really look that good?" he nods.

"Hippie's gonna squeal till she's hoarse." I snort.

"Is that even possible for her?" he laughs "But thanks, I guess." He gives me a winning smile and I can't help but smile myself.

"So, what are you gonna do now?"

"I was trying to figure out how to paint the lightning bolts on the ceiling. I drew them standing on the stair but how am I suppose to paint straight holding my arm up like that?"

Warren moves behind me.

"Grab the brush." He whispers. I shiver slightly, but do as he says, dipping the brush into the grey paint.

"Ok." I breathe out. Warren wraps his arms around me, and then starts heating up the air. Slowly, steadily, he lifts us up to the ceiling, then throws back his body, leaving me lying on him, as if on a scaffolding.

"This ok?" he asks softly. OK?! This is MORE than ok! This is great! He chuckles. I've gotten used to the fact that, when we're this close, he reads me automatically. Regardless of the brain-fuzziness, I start painting. Warren is definitely more comfortable than scaffolding and he's at just the right height so that I don't have to stretch my arm or anything. As I run out of paint, I wave my hand and a wind current pushes both paint cans up to us. Damn I could do this everyday...

"Hey Warren, Logan wants to know if you can help the paint to dry off so that we can... we can.. Where are you?" at the sound of our laughs, Will looks up at us.

"OH! Alright, leaving now. I'll tell them you guys are still painting."

"Thank you!" I chirp. I can hear Will going down the stairs and saying just that. I keep painting. Alright, so between the painting, which always relaxes me, Warren's natural warmth and ... well Warren, I'm starting to become sleepy. Which is ridiculous cause it's only about 1 pm or something!

"Hey you guys need any..." Rogue enters without knocking, a hateful characteristic of hers. What would happen if one of these days I finally jump Warren's bones and she decides to do a surprise visit?! I can feel Warren's chest shaking with controlled laughter. A week ago I would've died of embarrassment. But this is Warren. The guy without shame, that's teaching me to have no shame myself. So it doesn't particularly affect me, not anymore. We both know we want to jump each others bones. We just don't do it because this building things up to a breaking point is just much more fun. (Uh huh!)

"Well I guess they don't need any 'elp..." Remy, helpful as always.

"Well, at least they're still dressed..." Logan mumbles gruffly.

"Logan!" I screech. Can they be any more annoying?

"The guy's playing human scaffolding for ya!"

"He's helping me out. You guys can't!" he scoffs

"Ask Stronghold here! He could do the same!" now it's my turn to scoff. And Warren's.

"Thanks to hippie over there, Will wouldn't dream of helping Tempest like this. Or any other girl for that matter." Remy, Rogue and I laugh. Will chuckles and Layla giggles. Typical.

"Why? She doesn't seem the type! And who's Tempest?" I snort.

"Tempest is Warren's nickname for me, just like he calls Layla "hippie". And yeah, she's not that type of girl, but Will is that loyal type of guy." Everyone laughs again except for Logan.

"Nickname huh? Yeah, well – " Logan gets cut off by the door bell and Will goes to see who it is. Meanwhile, I'm still painting. I'm done with the first lightning bolt. And I got to say it looks good.

"Yup, it certainly does." I smile. I don't need to look at him to see he's also smiling. I guess this is as good a time as any to mention that the only down side of this position is that I can't look up at his gorgeous face. And what's the bet that his smile has now turned to a smirk. "It has."

"What certainly does? And what has what?!" we both laugh at Logan. I can hear Layla also laughing. She's the only person currently in this room that knows about Warren's other power.

"I just said that her lightning looks good." Logan is probably frowning.

"No, you didn't. I would've heard it!" we are saved by the arrival of Will, along with Maj, Zach and Ethan.

"WOW! This place looks really good!"

"Thanks Maj!" I say loud enough.

"Doesn't it? I was going to say so, but then every body started talking about you guys, so I had no opening for my praise." Warren and I laugh. Just as predicted.

"Oh. Well, they always give us something to talk about. Can't blame ya." Again, the only one who doesn't laugh, at Magenta's comment, is Logan.

"A'ight, a'ight. Let's go get some food." We all cheer.

"Hey Will, you mind catching the paint cans." Thanks Warren!

'_Your welcome._' I giggle. Geez, what he does to me.

"Sure thing." I leave the brushes in their respective paint cans and, as Will flies up to grab them and set them down, Warren lowers us both. When we are all back on the ground again, we leave my room to dry, then head off to the kitchen in search for the pizzas and ice-cream. YUM.

"So, what are you guys doing right now?" I ask in between bites. Rogue looks up.

"Well, right now we're only trying to find a safe place. We're kind off on the run. It's only been a few weeks since we closed the mansion. We know they have already raided the place. Thankfully, the lower levels were already fortified so they didn't get to the jet or Cerebro. But it was too close. We can't tell you were we are, though. Sorry sweetie." I shake my head.

"Nah, don't worry. Telling us would probably defeat the whole purpose of going into hiding."

"But what about technology? What with cell phones, GPS tracking, how are you staying hidden?" Warren asks. Logan looks impressed. Hey! Just because he's a hunk doesn't mean he's stupid! I can see Warren struggling to keep his laughter in. LOL.

"Well, we have a mutant among our midst who's a tecnopath. He's taking care of all that. Poor guy spends his whole time in our make-shift command centre making sure no one's in on us!" I sigh. Well, at least they're safe. For now. Warren grabs my hand and squeezes gently. I manage a small smile. Never before had I noticed how much I truly worry about these guys.

"So, any interesting advances?" Will asks. I can see he's asked the questions we were all dying to hear.

"We've managed to infiltrate several government buildings, thanks to Kitty and Mystique, who, thanks to Magneto, is now on our side. Well, in all honesty, she was always on our side. Problem was, there were two sides on our side." Everyone laughs.

"Oh, Logan, you always did have a way with words." He chuckles. This feels more like home than anything ever has before...

WHEW! I think I've never worked like this. Well maybe I have but I like to block painful memories (LOL). Anyway, it's now about 6 or something and we are sitting in the living room, we as in the gang, Logan, Remy and Rogue. And everybody is fighting everybody over what movie to watch. You should see this, it is just hilarious. I mean, the sight of Logan and Remy bickering like children against Ethan, Zach and Maj, all five of them wanting a different movie. Rogue, Will and Layla are trying to calm them down, but they also want different movies.

Fortunately for me Warren's being the bigger person and we have surreptitiously gone to my room to finish painting the effing ceiling. You see, after lunch, Logan wouldn't allow us to go back, so we decided that it was time to dry, at least, what _was_ painted. Which, in all fairness was the most important part. Once the paint was completely dry, thanks to Warren, we all carried the furniture back up to my room.

It looks awesome. Really. And Rogue brought me some bed sheets and curtains that go perfectly with my room so, we hung up the curtains and then the boys decided it was time for a little soccer game.

The whole gang, plus Remy and Rogue played. Logan had promised me a sparring match though, so we declined the invite. About an hour into the soccer game, Logan and I got tired, not to mention we were pretty even, so he sheathed his claws, I put away my Sai (I love Elektra, what can I say? The woman is awesome, fun, and she kicks some serious ass! She's the one who gave me the twin Sai to start with!) and we went back to the backyard. Everybody was already tired. Even Warren was slightly panting.

So, innocently as always (this had nothing to do with the fact that, for once, Warren was wearing a white t-shirt, and we all know what happens to white shirts when they get wet...) I thought that I'd refresh them. Focusing on the few clouds there were in the sky, I concentrated them all over our back yard and created a fantastic downpour. Layla, Maj and Rogue started screaming bloody murder at me, while the boys ran back towards the house laughing. Warren, true to his word, didn't mind getting wet, and because he probably knew he was half the reason why I made it rain, walked calmly back to the house.

By the time he got under the roof he was completely drenched. It was the most mouth-watering sight I've ever seen. I'm so gonna dream about that tonight. *Sigh*. The things I bring upon myself. After that everybody changed, we made popcorn and decided we would watch a movie. Which brings me back to the current bickering coming from the Strongholds' living room. But I just calmly lift the paint cans up to me, with Warren "holding" me up and paint. About 30 minutes later, as I'm finishing off the last lightning bolt, the door is practically pulled off it's hinges by Logan. Typical.

"Been painting this whole time huh?" I roll my eyes.

"I'm pretty sure you would've heard if we had tried anything else." Warren chuckles.

'_So am I._' I shiver. Logan snorts.

"Any way, we've finally settled for 'The Dark Knight'. I thought I'd let you know..." I scoff quietly. Sure he did.

"Well I'm done here, so we'll be down in about five minutes." He nods, gives us one last look, and leaves. What's the bet he's going to be counting?

True to my word, five minutes later we are down in the living room. Warren dried the paint off. I even had time to change into my favourite shorts and a comfy tank. Thanks to Layla, Maj and Rogue, Warren and I have to share the single, reclining sofa, much to Logan's chagrin and our amusement. I have to say, this guy is the most comfortable man-pillow ever!

Six popcorn bags, and 2 movies later, it's now slightly past 10 pm and we are starting our third movie: 'Underworld: Rise of the Lycans'. One of my personal favourites. I've always loved a good vampire/werewolf movie...

How can they keep going? It's now past midnight and every single other person in this living room is arguing about the NEXT movie we will watch! I feel Warren shifting and look up at him. He's giving me a weird look.

'_Don't look at me like that!_' he snorts softly while I get comfortable and ready for another round of bickering, popcorn throwing and complaining. Did I mention that, by this time I'm bluntly sitting on Warren's lap, comfortably snuggled in his arms. And if I'm forced through another movie, between the brightness of the screen, the tiredness of today, and his unnatural warmth, I'll fall asleep!

'_You can. Though I strongly recommend that you sleep somewhere else tonight._' Now it's my turn to look at him strangely. He chuckles. '_I mean that you shouldn't sleep in your room tonight._'

'_Why?_'

'_Because of the paint fumes?_' Awww! Isn't he the cutest thing! Even I don't look after myself like that! But...

'_If I don't sleep in my room... then where?_'

'_In my room?_' I didn't know you could do a mental 'DUH!' tone! WAIT! He said HIS room?! '_Yes, I said MY room._'

'_And you'd be sleeping where exactly?_' I ask slightly apprehensively. He chuckles.

'_Don't worry, there's no need to give you a heart attack... yet..._'

'_Where Warren?_' I ask, shivering against him. I shift to look up at him, hating and loving the cheeky grin on his face.

'_I'll sleep on the couch. Don't worry about it. I've done it before I moved in. Chill._' Even though I was the one who was apprehensive about sleeping in his room, _with_ him, I can't help but be slightly disappointed. Oh well. He said 'yet'. *Yawn*. Oh well, I might as well get comfy. I doubt I'll last this movie...

I don't know how much time has passed since the fourth movie, all I know is that I don't remember watching half-way through it. I'm not even fully awake. I just hear voices whispering, people moving and perhaps a door being opened and shut. Aside of that I'm being slightly jostled, maybe even carried. I feel all nice and warm. Warren. He's the only explanation. I don't know what ungodly hour it is. And in my dreamy state I can't care. I feel I'm being laid down on a soft, cool, surface, covered with a soft, cool, and malleable something. I shiver a bit. After being so warm, I feel the change. Yet I can't help but feel great, and cared after. I feel a soft, warm pair of lips on my forehead. I smile. Then a weight dips the bed right next to me, and everything is back to being nice and warm. And I'm free to go back to sleep...

"Wake up, Tempest. Rogue, Remy and Logan will be here in about an hour. Rogue says she promised to take you to the mall, so you better have slept well." says a deep voice in my ear.

I just roll on the bed and try to go back to sleep. I hear a chuckle and I struggle against consciousness. I don't wanna wake up yet! I'm nice and warm as I am! The chuckles continue as I feel the mattress dipping right next to me. I have a blurry flashback to the same feeling some time ago. Then I feel the same warmth surround me. I remember the feeling of a pair of warm, soft lips on my forehead. I smile.

"Come on, Tempest, get up, or Will is going to eat your pancakes too..." I perk up slightly.

"Hmm... do I have to?" I whine. I hear the voice, which I now recognise as Warren's, chuckling in my ear. Awww, why does he have to do this to me? I finally open my eyes and turn to him. He's lying a few inches away from me on top of the covers.

"Yes, you do. And if you hurry, I might just add ice-cream to your pancakes!" that definitely wakes me up!

"Okay, okay, I'm up! But that's blackmail!" he laughs, standing up to make sure I'll get off the bed.

"No, it's not. It's persuasion." I grumble, but follow him down to the kitchen nevertheless.

Once there, I plop down onto a chair as gracefully as I can at this point in the morning.

"Alright, Tempest, here's your coffee." I grab the mug. It's perfect of course. After saying hi to Will, who looks even sleepier than I, I find my plate of pancakes and, as promised, they have a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. Yum... "Rogue, Remy and Logan will be here in 50, to take you to the mall."

"Yes mom." I grumble. Suddenly I feel him behind me, leaning until his mouth is on my ear.

"I doubt you think of me as your mom, Samantha." That whisper wakes me up as no coffee can. I shiver uncontrollably. One of the reasons why I love that he's given me a nickname is the fact that the way he says my name makes me... let's leave it at warm. And (DUH!) he knows it. I glare at him while he laughs at me and pulls the room temperature back down to a more comfortable one.

"Thanks man." Will says fanning himself. Warren nods. I swallow up my pancakes.

"I'll go get ready. You guys enjoy your Sunday, I'll be shopping!" they both say something along the lines of 'bye Sam' as I run off to change.

As soon as I enter my room I face my closet. Today I'll wear... I'll start with the shoes. Crème high-heeled Mary Janes, then... light blue skinny jeans, and... A crème camisole! There! All set. Now, shower! I rush to the shower and in 15 minutes, I'm out! Record time again! Anyway, I get out, dry, dress, brush my teeth, and do my make up: a bit of base, a little eyeliner, and lip-gloss. Perfect! And I still have some spare time! This _is_ amazing seeing as, back in the mansion, it took me _hours_ to get ready for anything. So I guess this little Sky High experience is doing its share of good. Either way, I stuff my big brown hand bag with everything I may need for this shopping trip and go down to wait. I wonder if Mr. and Mrs. Stronghold are up yet...?

"Hey guys." The both look up at me, astonished, to say the least.

"You're ready?" I huff.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence Will. But I have to admit, I'm impressed myself."

"Well, we don't know how slow you were at getting ready before meeting you a few days ago, but we can tell you that the hippie and the purple girl, each, take _hours_ to get ready." I nod.

"I used to do that myself. No idea what happened. I guess this little trip is doing me some good after all..." Warren snorts. Will smiles. I run to the door as I hear Logan, Rogue and Remy getting out of their car.

"Morning guys!" They look at me, as dumbfounded as it gets. What can I tell ya? I just wasn't a morning person back at the mansion. Blame it on school, and Warren's breakfasts.

"Well hello sweetie! What has caused this miracle?" I laugh.

"Bonjour mon cœur! I see you are more than ready for attacking the mall, as you and Rogue are used to." I nod enthusiastically. I haven't been shopping with Rogue for ages!

"Alright then, chirpy, morning version of my goddaughter. Let's go. Better start early cause I just know that this is going to take all day..."Logan mock sighs and I smile brightly. This will be very fun.

"Bye Warren! Bye Will! Don't wait up!"

And with that, I close the door and follow Rogue, Logan and Remy back to the car.


	8. Clothes, Shoes and Boy Talk

CHAPTER 8: "Clothes, Shoes and Boy Talk"

Rogue, Remy and Logan are taking me to the largest mall in Maxville. It's fun. I haven't had a single girly moment with Rogue in weeks! Not since this whole madness started in any case. And it feels great to pick up on our little Sunday Shopping tradition. Logan and Gambit don't normally come with us, but then again, _normally_ we'd be in a New York mall, we'd go home to the Mansion, and _normally_ we wouldn't have to move around in 'packs' for protection. But if this is as normal as I'm getting, then I will take what I can. Suddenly, my sidekick starts ringing. It's Layla.

"Hiya!"

"Hey Sammy! You doing anything today?"

"I'm off for a shopping trip with Rogue. Logan and Gambit are also here, but they're just playing bodyguard." I hear Layla whining. "Why?"

"Well, it's just that I just remembered we have the Homecoming Dance next Saturday. And I was wondering if we could go shopping today with Maj for dresses." My eyes light up.

"Gimme a sec!"

"OK."

"Rogue, Layla and Maj wanna go shopping with us for Homecoming Dance-worthy dresses." Rogue smiled.

"Then tell them to get their butts over to the mall!"

"Rogue says to get your butts over to the mall!" Layla squeals. I tell them where we're headed and we end the call.

"So, we having company?" I look at Logan, who's driving. He doesn't like the way Remy drives. LOL.

"Yep."

It takes us an hour to get to the mall and find my crazy new friends, but we manage.

Logan and Remy have stayed in a music store nearby the food court. What's the bet they'll clean the place out.

"So, what kinda dresses are we looking for?" Rogue asks.

"Well, Layla and I will know when we find them. For Sam, though, we need something that will make Warren drool!" Maj, I could kill you. I can hear Rogue and Layla laughing their asses off at her comment. What is it they say? With friends like these... All of a sudden, the mall's temperature goes up. Uncomfortably up. The girls laugh even harder, knowing full well why. But I pay it no attention. Warren's gonna handle it. Then... I remind myself he's not here. Blast it! I guess I'm on my own this time. I focus as I hard as I can and pull my body temperature down. I'll be cold, but people around me won't have to suffer for it. I can manage a little coolness. If anything, I need it!

"Oh, well, then let's start looking!" Everyone is terribly excited about going Sam's-dress hunting. Except me. I would like to pick my own dress. Something I'll look good in, something I like, and that ... OH WHO AM I KIDDING? I so wanna make Warren Peace drool as much as I have!

We set off. There are tons of dresses in this mall! It's amazing! It's as if the mall is made up entirely of ball gowns or something! Suddenly, Layla squeals as only she can and drags the three of us into a store. The reason: a beautiful green dress. And I mean _beautiful_! It looks like a carbon copy of Keira Knightley's dress from Atonement! It is GORGEOUS! Will is going down! Well, one down, two to go. Although neither Magenta nor Layla really need to go out of their ways to have Zach and Will wrapped around their respective fingers. But it would be nice to see Will's face is Layla wears something particularly "appealing".

"Layla, this is your dress!" Rogue squeals. Since we're all girls we can allow ourselves to drop the tough act (though Layla never actually uses hers) and squeal and giggle as much as we want. It's fun!

We keep walking sometimes wandering into a shoe store, others into a jewellery store. At a certain point we all went for a Starbucks. I got myself the biggest version available of a dark mocha frapuccino. One word: YUM.

So now we have Layla's dress, her shoes, her jewellery, Maj's shoes and accessories (she refuses to call it jewellery, Goddess only knows why), and had a Starbucks each. And then, Maj gasps and pulls us over to a shop window.

"You asked for nice? It ain't getting nicer than this!" she squeaks out. And she's right! The dress is stunning, in a very Magenta way! Poor, poor Zach. He'll never know what hit him! Off the shoulder, ragged sleeves, empire waist and golden details at the hem. It's floor length! And the fabric is such a rich magenta! It's perfect for her. So she buys it.

By then, it was time for lunch so we run towards a small Italian restaurant. It seems good enough. Once settled, all three of them start talking at once. About Warren.

"So..." Uh oh. Rogue has her knowing smirk on. SHIT! I try to play it cool. Key word: TRY.

"So what?" I ask. I'm not going to give in easily! Layla giggles. Never a good sign. That girl knows everything there is to know on everyone!

"So... are you going to tell us what happened between you and Warren?" I scoff. They're still on about that? DUDE! Like it's ever going to happen! I tell them just that. And they laugh their heads off. Isn't it great to have such awesome, understanding, compassionate friends? And, just in case you didn't notice, that has sarcasm written all over it!

"Riiiiiight! Cause you totally were NOT laying on him while painting your room!" I glare at Magenta. That girl has a knack for hitting the nail dead on! "Come on. Give a little here!" I huff. Okay so maybe there is a little something-something going on between Warren and me. We did confess to attraction, after all. But that still doesn't mean anything! Right?

"He was just helping me out!" please Goddess don't let me blush again! I can't handle having to pull the room temperature back again! Not to mention it's a hideous tell-tale sign...

"Suuure, of course. And you so totally didn't like it, right? You'd never do that again, even if your life depended on it, huh?" I hate Layla. I officially hate her. Uggh! Okay so I don't hate her. But she's still terribly infuriating!!!!!

"If my life depended on it, then yes! And besides, of course I liked it! This is Warren Peace we're talking about! This is the shameless guy who, by the way, has truly nothing to be ashamed of! The guy who gives the term 'hunk' a whole new meaning!" they are now nodding and laughing like crazy. "But what's that got to do with anything?" they shut up and look at me as if I were stupid. Goddess I get enough of that from Warren! I don't need it from these guys!

"You did not just ask that."

"Yes Maj, I did. So what?" Rogue snorts.

"SO, Logan told me about a certain... odour..." Oh. Fuck it! I'm so killing Logan! Or giving it a shot anyway! But the damage is done. Layla and Magenta now want to hear all about it. And Rogue was never one to deny people what they want... "Oh, you didn't know? Well, you see, this young lady here has a very particular sense of smell. And so does Logan. And Logan has told me that they have BOTH noticed that darling Sammy AND Warren are giving off a very particular smell." Yep, Logan AND Rogue are sooo dead!

"What smell?" Layla shush!

"It's nothing. Rogue here is just making it into a bigger deal than it really it!" I say, glaring daggers at said mutant.

"Oh am I? So this smell is not an indicator of lust?" Maj and Layla turn to me, gawking, jaws hanging languidly. OH. SHIT.

"A WHAT?!" we all cringe. As well as the people in the tables around us.

"Jeez, Layla! My ear drums! Remember my hearing is more sensitive than yours!"

"And if you won't do it for little Miss Sensitive, then do it for us mere mortals with normal senses who didn't know you could reach such decibels!" Rogue groans. Magenta nods enthusiastically, then immediately turns to me for an explanation. I cringe again.

"Ok, let's start with a basic here." Layla and Maj shuffle on their seats as they get comfy to listen to my explanation. "There a VERY few people who don't give off that smell around the world okay? VERY few. And that's because humans are... _designed_ to feel lust on a daily basis. It just so happens that some feel it more strongly than others. As is my case. And Warren's. And any teenaged person really. But this smell is also a tell-tale sign of who you're lusting after. So, if you can catch it, you can also tell for who it is. It's actually really fun, cause all those girls at school cause a bit of a cloud of fog!" they both laugh. Then Maj get's "serious". Oh no...

"And... you're going to tell us that it's merely physical?" F. U. C. K... and ... YEP! I'm flushing again! Great. Just peachy. I pull the room temperature down again, pulling my own temperature further down. If this keeps up, by the time I get home, I'll be freezing! Which wouldn't be such a bad idea if you consider that Warren will probably offer his help... *sigh* uh oh! Mind-down-the-gutter alert! Whew! That was close. Only now do I realise that Layla, Magenta and Rogue are still waiting for an answer...

"Uhmmm, well, I... uhhh..." SHIT!!!! Make that a DOUBLE SHIT! They're staring at me like I'm about to declare we're engaged! Not that that would be a bad idea, if only for the look on their faces but... "Well what do you want me to SAY?!" Rogue snorts.

"Oh, I don't know? Maybe that you actually feel something for this guy?" I look at her.

"Please tell me you're not expecting me to say I love him or anything, cause I've barely known him for about a week!" they look at me as if I've lost my mind. WHEW! Cause if that was what they wanted me to say...

"Ever heard of love at first sight?" Layla asks in her annoying "silly" tone. So much for not wanting me to say I loved him...

"Well how am I supposed to know if I love him? And in any case, wouldn't it be a little early to tell?" there goes the staring again "Tell you what? I'm starting to get sick of people staring at me as if I'm crazy or stupid. The only one who get's away with that is Warren."

"Come again, say _what_?" they ask, with the cat-who-ate-the-canary smile. Did I really just say that out loud? Oh shit...

"Well, yeah, just like I'm the only one he takes shit from..." I say, trying to cover up the fact that Warren is indeed the only one _I_ take any kind of shit from...

"Isn't that the most clear indicator that you have feelings towards him? He's important to you!" why do they do this? Is someone paying them for torturing me or is it just their own sadism?

"Yes, he is important to me." They smile. "That doesn't mean I love him!" they smile as if I was I child. "Does it?" damn them for making me doubt!

"It means you're well on your way." I look at Layla. Oh please no! How am I supposed to face Warren after this?! "Sam, take it from me. I started liking Will years ago. At first I thought, like you, that he was merely a friend, that he was _important_ to me. But now I know I love him!" I huff. Why is life so complicated sometimes?!

"You said so yourself Layla. You started liking Will YEARS ago." Don't you just love denial? It's an awesome way to annoy the crap out of people. Did I just admit I'm IN denial?

"Yeah, ok, fine. I started years ago. But we didn't manage the relationship you have with Warren until years after either!" now I'm annoyed.

"So what? So because I managed a hot best friend in a week while it took you years to get Will to be your friend, it now means we'll confess our undying love for each other within the next month?" Maj and Rogue are laughing their asses off. Layla is just giggling.

"Perhaps!" I look at her, horrified. Not because of Warren. If anything I'm glad it's him and not some idiot from wherever. No, it's the fact that I've, apparently managed to fall for a guy in less than a week. And not even noticed. Of course the guy being Warren surely knows how to speed up the process but STILL!!! It's just a single fucking week! Rogue decides it's time she takes an active part in this conversation.

"Look, sweetheart, we're not saying that you ARE in love with him. At least not just yet. But you probably are falling in love with him. You can't deny _that_!" I hung my head, huffing. No, I most likely CAN'T deny _that_. But I sure as hell am going to try!

"But, how am I supposed to know if I _am_ falling for the guy? Eh?" ok now they're all annoyed. SHIT! This can't be good. I can tell from my extensive experience in discussing feelings with Rogue and my limited though very accurate experience with Layla and Maj. Oh. Holy. Shit!

"Can you imagine your life without him?" I stare at Magenta, wanting to glare daggers at her but I can't help but ponder her question. Damn, I can't. WOW. Holy. Effing. SHIT. I AM falling in love with Warren. Oh, FUCK. I look back at them. I can tell by the look on their faces that the look on MY face is telling them everything they need to know.

"See? We are right!" She says.

"Oh Goddess. What am I gonna do? I can't just go back to the house and be near Warren, not when I'm such a mess! But, if I don't he's gonna know there's something wrong! And I can't go through a day anymore without one of his hugs or sexy comments! Wait did I just say that?" Rogue, Layla and Magenta burst out laughing. Apparently, I did just say that. Oh boy, I'm screwed. I put my head in my hands. Damn me and my stupid feelings!

"Sam? What's wrong?" I look at Layla.

"Well, as I said, I can't just let Warren read all this! And for that I'd need to stay away from him cause I've never been good at hiding my feelings! Or thoughts. And that just sucks cause I've gotten used to being around him the whole friggin' day! I even feel cold if he's not around! Metaphorically AND literally!" they all stare at me, aw-ing silently.

"So?" Useful as always Maj.

"SO, how can I go near him?! That would be like a... love declaration!"

"Again... SO?" I scoff

"THINK Maj! I don't want to ruin this! He's my best friend! And I love him! Goddess can this get any more clichéd!" hum... I was starting to miss using that word in reference to anything remotely bound to Sky High. Then I see them all looking at me as if their wildest dreams had come true. And then... I realise... "Did I just say I love him?" they nod enthusiastically. Oh crap. "Could this get any worse?!"

"I don't get it." When do you Layla? Ok so that was mean. But is just don't feel like being nice right now. "Why is this bad?"

"Because he doesn't like me like that!" I screech. People at other tables turn to look at me. I mouth sorry at them and they turn back to their foods. Meanwhile my friends are also staring at me. Again as if I was stupid. DUDE! I'm not! Warren said so! (Again with Warren!)

"Umm, do you hear yourself?" Yeah, I do. I lift an eyebrow at Magenta. She better get to her point soon enough. "You do realise that Warren is NOT a sociable person. And yet he started talking to you as soon as you sat down next to him in Mad Science." I shrug. So what?! Make your effing point! "Which means he must've felt attracted to you as soon as he saw you! And Warren doesn't do the I-just-want-to-get-into-your-pants sort of attraction! So he does like you that way!"

"I guess." They look at me. "I mean... *ugh* I know that he doesn't do that sort of attraction, cause if he did, he would've already been through most of the school's female population. But, does he really like me or is it just...? Oh I don't know!" Maj scoffs.

"Or is it just WHAT? What other type of attraction is there? There's just love and lust. And ruling out the possibility of it being pure lust, then the ONLY logical explanation is that it is BOTH! Besides, good love doesn't come without lust." I laugh out loud with that one. Leave it to Maj to clear up that a good relationship can't be without good sex. LOL.

"What? 'When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth'?" Rogue and Magenta roll their eyes, while Layla laughs.

"See? You're even as much of a bookworm as he is!" she says. I huff. Rogue looks up in interest.

"He's a bookworm?!" Layla, Maj and I nod.

"Oh yeah!"

Finally, we finish our lunch. Rogue pays for us, though Layla and Maj start complaining. But she pays anyways, for the mere reason that she's the oldest. Crazy but...

And now, we're back to Sam's-dress-hunt. Now that I've had my illuminating moment I'm more determined than ever to find the right dress. Problem is there must be a thousand dresses in this effing mall. And so, we enter store number one.

"Hi, we're looking for... prom dresses. You know, for a Homecoming dance?" the clerk looks at Rogue questioningly. "Oh not for me! For her!" she adds, pulling me in front of her as if I was some sort of shield. NOT! But the lady softens up, though she looks at my hair weirdly at first. I always turn heads whenever I go somewhere public. I've even had people walk up to me and ask where I got that hair dye, only to walk away dejectedly when I say it's natural. But it makes me feel proud that people want to have my hair colour. I love being me (contradictory much?)!

"Well, what exactly are we looking for?" I stop to think about that one. I have NO idea what I want. I just want to make Warren drool. If that's even possible. The guy's the most shameless and cool person I've ever met. I guess that just adds to the charm.

"Something... well let's start simple. Only floor length."

"OK, then, over here we have a few..." 'Kelly' says trailing off.

We have now been through FIVE dress stores. Why oh why is it so utterly IMPOSSIBLE to find a decent dress?! UGHHH!!! Damn it. I don't even know the colour of the dress!

"Well how about a short dress? We've seen plenty of gorgeous short ones!" Layla says ever the helpful one (and mind you there's no sarcasm there! She loves helping people!).

"But I don't want a short dress! Short dresses are... are... NO!" I whine. You know I'm tired when I'm whining. I NEVER whine!

"Well, how about we have another Starbucks, SITTING DOWN, and think it over?" Maj, I LOVE YOU!

So we do, exactly that. Once I'm sitting down, with a huge dark mocha frap, the world suddenly seems much better. Not as good as one of Warren's hugs but I have to make do with what I have. Did I really just think that? DUDE! Leave me here a few more weeks and I won't be able to live without the guy!

"Alright, let's decide the colour at least. We know it's floor length. Any other specifications so that we can, _at least_, move through stores faster?" Goddess I love these girls. No one else would put up with my whining self and still have energy to look for MY dress. I think, and think and think. And think a bit more. Then, I look out the window. It was a children's store. Selling things like school backpacks to plushy lunch boxes, with pictures of robots to Disney Princesses. Funny, I didn't know Meg was considered a Disney Princess. That's when it hits me! A Greek dress! YAY ME!!!

"Greek style!!!!!" they all jump and squeal. Well, Layla and Rogue do. Magenta simple sighs with relief.

"Greek... and colour?" Maj! Why ruin my happy mood? I haven't got a friggin' clue as to the colour!

"UGH! I don't know!" then Layla squeals again.

"WHITE! Or BLACK! Either one would go amazing with your hair!" See why I love these girls?! We clap and laugh. At least now we have somewhere to start!

And so, with renewed strengths we walk out of the Starbucks and re-start the dress hunt.

It's been about half an hour since we left the coffee shop and I have tried on a gazillion dresses already. Some of which were VERY good candidates. But for some reason or another, they were always discarded. I guess that, if in 1 hour, I don't find my dream dress I can always fall back on one of those. But at least we've made some progress.

"Hey, how 'bout this one?" I turn to were Rogue was pointing. It was a small store. With decent looking dresses. And there didn't seem to be too many people. I guess I won't hurt.

"Ok, let's go."

This store is awesome! All the dresses here look like they were taken out of princess movies or something! It is so effing cool! I'm so finding my dress here!

I walk towards the lady on the counter.

"Hi, uh, I'm looking for a dress. For my Homecoming dance. Anything that looks Greek styled and either black or white. Oh and floor length." she smiles.

"Sure, we have of those. Over here please." YAY!

Oh damn! There's a whole friggin' section on black and white Greek dresses! There's even Megan Fox's dress for the Transformers premiere! Which, by the way, is one of the best dresses I've ever seen! I call the girls over while I thank the lady and we start looking through the endless racks.

I have already been through a WHOLE rack, and mind you these things are like 6 feet long! All of a sudden I hear Layla squeal louder than she ever has. The first one "on scene" was Rogue. Then Maj. It takes me a while cause, believe it or not, the "Greek" section was the whole back side of the store. (Thinking things over, this place isn't as small.) I never thought Rogue and Magenta could squeal. It must be a helluva dress!

And it is! OH MY GODDESS!!!!! It's the perfect dress! White, embellished bust in silver sequins, empire waist, layered and pleated skirts and floor length!!!!!! Gorgeous! Warren was going DOWN...

I grab the dress and run to try it on. Inside the changing room, I run my hands over the cloth. It feels so soft and smooth! I throw it over my head and zip it up. It fits like a charm. I squeal, very un-like me. Then I realise: I need shoes! I step out of the changing room and twirl so the Layla, Magenta and Rogue can appreciate this beauty. They clap and giggle.

"You're going to make every single guy in that party drool!" Rogue exclaims. I smirk.

"Perhaps. But there's only one I'm interested in..." the clerk lady comes over.

"Oh, it looks perfect!" I smile at her.

"Do you have any shoes that could go with this?" the girls nod and gasp. The clerk smiles kindly and leads us to the shoe section. This time, I'm the first one to see the perfect shoes. I let out a small shriek and point and jump up and down. Layla immediately sees them and starts jumping up and down with me. Rogue and Maj see them and agree. This is _perfect_! High heeled gladiator style sandals!!!! Which is perfect because the dress, gorgeous as it is, is still a bit long for me. I'm not exactly short, at 5'7", 5'8", but I'm not the tallest person either. So this suits me perfectly! Awesome. I try on the shoes. Perfect fit. The dress stops as soon as it touches the floor with these sandals on. Finally! I quickly go back in and change into my own clothes. Then I go to the counter and pay up. Can you believe that this dress and these shoes, in all their Greek glory, aren't really expensive?!

At long last, we are now looking for Logan and Remy. I bet they've gone crazy by now. It's been nearly 8 hours since we came. It's now 6 o'clock. And I'm pooped! Anyway. We go back to the food court where, sure enough, they are sitting, stuffing themselves with burgers. They've apparently had 2 each, and that's only right now. There is no telling how much they've had throughout the whole day. Sometimes I hate men and their ability to eat as much as they want and not gain a pound.

"Logan! Remy!" they look up and wave at us. Then, their eyes fall on the loads of bags we have. They look very funny with wide eyes. To tell the truth we haven't JUST shopped for dress. I mean, you can't just shop for a dress and expect it to look good! So we've bought special underwear at a lingerie shop, we bought shoes, of course, we bought (DUH!) the dresses, jewellery, make up... you know. The basics. LOL. I love Sunday Shopping!

It's now 7 and we are finally back at Will's. Mr. and Mrs. Stronghold come out to say high to Logan, Remy and Rogue and invite them for a cup of coffee. As the adults move to the sitting room, they kick Warren and Will out. Grumbling, the boys meet us at the bottom of the stairs. Then, something happens, which has never happened before. My heart does what feels like an aerial as soon as I see Warren. DAMN REALISATIONS!!!

"Hey there Tempest." He says, pulling me into a one-armed hug. I shiver uncontrollably, one, because it's Warren, and two, because, thanks to all the blushing and the pulling my temperature down, I'm now way bellow a person's normal temp. Warren immediately notices and holds me at arm's length. "What's with the cold?" OMG is he worried? Yes he is! OMG!!! Did I really just think 'OMG'? DUDE! Pull yourself together Sam. He can't know, 1 and 2... I can't think of a good 2 right now. I can see the girls smirking like mad, Layla already attached to Will. DAMN IT! "Tempest? You still with me?" forever! Did I just think that? I shake my head.

"What? Oh, yeah! Sorry. Air-headed moment." Magenta and Layla snort and I try to turn to glare at them but Warren pulls me back to look into my eyes. WHY DOES HE HAVE TO KNOW ME SO WELL?! Oh Goddess, those brown eyes.

"Are you ok? You seem... scared..." SHIT he's trying to read me! No, Warren, please don't! Please!

"Scared? Why would I be scared? And as for the cold you can blame these two for causing flukes in the temperature. Or causing ME to fluke the room temperature. So I ended I little colder than usual. That's all." I smile as convincingly as I can. I can tell he doesn't buy that I'm not scared but the temperature fluke thingy is more than likely true so he let's that go.

'_I'll make you spill later._' SHIT. Then I forget that the world is big and nasty as he pulls me into a warm bear hug, literally warming me up in seconds. I let it wash over me, feeling as each and every one of my worries melts away. I end up so relaxed that the only thing holding me up is Warren. As usual. I sigh contently and we pull away simultaneously.

"Come on, I bet hippie and purple girl are bugging Will with details of your shopping trip." I laugh and we walk up the stairs. We walk into Will's room and all three look up and lift an eyebrow. I look at Warren. He shrugs.

"Awww." We look at Layla who's looking at somewhere near my hip. I look. I gasp. I flush. We're holding hands. Why am I flushing is beyond me cause we've done it before. But now... OH FUCK. Fortunately, Warren's gotten used to dealing with my changes in temperature so he cancels me out. I let go as naturally as possible and walk over to the girls.

"Hey, Tempest, what am I supposed to do with these?" I turn to him. Oh right! He's holding all my bags. In one hand and with no apparent effort by the way. Which is something cause in those bags are my dress, my shoes, my lingerie, my jewellery, my make up and my etceteras. I was struggling with them.

"Could you be loveable and take them to my room?" he smiles, shaking his head, then turns and walks to my room. I hear him opening the door and dropping them on my bed, then shutting the door and walking back. All this time, I'm more than aware of the HUGE smirks on Magenta's Layla's and Will's faces. Dude! Gimme a rest! I bet they've already told Will about today's enlightening lunch. I'm going to kill these guys!

"What's with the smirks?" I hear Warren asking as he throws his arm over my shoulders. Hiding a shiver, I nearly cringe at the range of answers this question could cause, but luckily, Mrs. Stronghold comes up at that very moment.

"Sammy, they're leaving now." my anger is lost. I don't want them to leave. I mean, I know they have to but... do they have to? I feel Warren squeezing my shoulder. Only now do I feel how much I really feel for this guy. I look up to him smiling in thanks. Suddenly, I see something in his eyes. Something I've never seen before. I always knew he cared. But this look makes it... tangible. I can feel how much he cares. And it's breath-taking. "Sam?" I turn to Mrs. Stronghold and nod wiping my eyes discreetly. As it happens, the breath-taking part was quite literal. I start panting air back into my lungs. I feel his chest shaking with quiet chuckles. I turn back to Warren and smile. A quick look into his eyes shows me that the care is still there. Maybe it's always been there. I feel warm inside.

Finally, I pull myself together and walk down the stairs. Rogue, Remy and Logan are waiting by the door. I gulp. I feel unsure of when I'll see them again. I gulp again, take a deep breath and walk over to say goodbye. I know Logan said he'd come by every weekend. But he can't. This is an underground war. And you can't fight a war and make social visits. He can't keep this up. None of them can...

I walk over to Rogue and hug her as tight as I can. She hugs back as tightly as she can without skin-to-skin contact. I start getting teary eyes.

"Bye Rogue. Take care of yourself girl. Thanks for today." She looks at me with a caring expression. She gets what I'm trying to tell. Let's hope she and Remy can make Logan understand. He's hard-headed like that.

"Don't worry about me sweetie. I can't be touched remember?" I chuckle, and her reminder of how powerful we all are makes me feel a bit better. We do have an advantage. And with Jean, we should have this thing in the bag. But we're supposed to make them understand, not kill them. So I can't help but have a bad feeling about it. I move over to Remy. He's already waiting with open arms.

"Bye Remy. Thanks for everything. Take care. You're not allowed to have anything happen to you!" I say, trying to lighten my own mood. He chuckles and hugs me.

"Don't worry, Cherie. Don't worry about anything. I'll make the big guy see sense even if I have to knock it into his armour-plated head." I laugh quietly. I can hear Layla, Maj, Will and Warren saying their own goodbyes to Logan and Rogue. I let go of Remy, take another deep breath, and move on to Logan. Oh boy. Please don't let me cry.

"Bye, Logan. Don't get too roughed up, will you? I kinda like you in one piece. And focus on the war. I'm well looked after here." His hug is tighter than the others. At this rate, I won't be able to hold in the waterworks much longer.

"I know what you're trying to get to with this, kiddo. And I'm not gonna let ya." I open my mouth to complain but he gets there first. "I told you I would come every weekend, and I WILL come every weekend. I will keep to my promise."

"Well I release you from your promise. This war is more important. You're one of our best fighters. I want you to focus on this. For me." He sighs. It would seem I got the point through.

"I will call you every weekend and call and come if things are calm enough. Deal?" I nod. At least I made some progress.

"Deal." I get a final group hug and I watch as they go back to their car. They are to drive the car back to the rental store, then meet up with Kurt. He'll take them back to wherever their HQs are right now.

A solitary tear runs down my face as I watch them drive away. Goddess only knows when I'll see them again. I feel Warren's arms around my waist. I turn around and allow him to engulf me in another hug. The rest leave us be and go back to whatever they were doing before.

We stay like this for I don't know how long. I'm just letting his warmth envelop me and ease my worry away. Finally, I'm ready to pull away and he lets me go. I start to walk away when he grabs my hand. I look at him in confusion. What... is this about?

"We have stuff to talk about remember?" his smirk is back in place.

Oh. Holy. Fucking. Shit...

A/N: Yes, I know, I've been very nasty and haven't updated in a long, long while, but you can blame all that on my IB exams! Now that that's over, new chapters will come more often but don't push me, I beg of you. After those exams, my brain's still a bit too dry for imagination to flow as it used to. And with all the partying and celebrating, I'll be a bit short on energies. But I promise not to let more than 2 weeks go by with out an update!!!!! Thanks to all my reviewers and to everybody else who is following the story! You guys are the best!

Toodles!


	9. Us? Talk? Bad idea!

CHAPTER 9: "Us? Talk? Bad idea!"

I've completely frozen. I have no fucking clue what to do. And I'm praying to whatever deity is available at the moment to enlighten me or get me the fuck outta here! Did I mention I'm still staring? No? Well, you can add that to the list, then. Goddamn those chocolate brown eyes. I see something obstructing my sight. Oh! He's waving his hand in front of me. I see his lips moving. Those full, luscious, oh-so-kissable lips that – ... Focus Sam! This might just be important!

"Tempest? You still in there? Or have you mysteriously gone brain-dead all of a sudden?"

See?! It wasn't really important! I can go back to staring at his lips... which, by the way, are coming dangerously close. Why? Oh! He's leaning towards me? Why? Uh oh! Alert! Alert! Abort mission! Target too close! Sensors over-heating! Circuit systems close to melting point! Alert! Alert!

He's too close. Mere inches away from my face. Red lights are going off in my mind as if I was a submarine on a collision course. I cannot compute why I've suddenly reverted back to my old, stupid, shameful self. Or rather, I cannot remember. I start coaxing myself out of this coma, if only to find out why I pretty much put myself into one. I don't particularly like having a vegetated brain. Ok. Coherent thinking is back. My brain is thinking clearly again. And in such a state I notice I'm being carried somewhere. I look up at Warren. He looks back at me.

"You back from outer space yet?" I can tell he's amused. What did he say to get me like this? His innuendos normally induce _a_ form of stupidity but this ought to have been much worse to have sent me to "abort mission" mode.

"Yeah, I'm back. BTW, what did you do to send me into that kinda catatonic state?" I look away from him as he stops moving. We've arrived at the door of his room. Huh? I look at him, expecting an answer. All I get is a smirk. This can't be good.

He opens the door, pushes me in, and closes it. What can he be about to do or say that he thinks I'll take to pleading the fifth and running away? I look back at him. He's serious now. Ok, I've now decided that whatever he's said, or done, is NOT good. And what's coming next is just gonna be worse.

"Sit." I move towards the bed and get comfy near the headboard. Might as well.

"Ok, _now_ can you tell me what this is about?" he smirks at me, sitting at the foot of the bed, opposite to me, blocking my only escape route. His door.

"You _really_ don't remember what I said?" I shake my head.

"No, I don't!" he shakes his head.

"I reminded you of the bunch of stuff we have to talk about." OH. Worse than 'oh'. Oh holy shit is more like it. Ok, I can't let him touch me, or get too close to me so that he can't read me. I trust he won't do it on purpose. And I have to make up a subject. A harmless one. One that –... "Tempest?"

"Huh?" I look up. He's moved closer. I stretch out my arm, ordering him to stay put. Oh well, a girl can dream. He just keeps moving forward.

"You gonna go all catatonic on me again?" I shake my head. "Good. Then let's start with the basic. What did you and Logan talk about when they had just arrived? Something about smells, and stuff..." oh! He wants to know about THAT! Whew! Well, kind of. This is much less awkward. But I can't think about that. He's too close. And don't you dear readers look at me like that! I was not about to tell him that we stink of our own lust! No way! His ego is blown up enough! Though actually, when it matters, and where it matters, he's a very modest guy. Ugh! Focus!

"Well, that is... uh... how can I explain? That's just a physiological reaction." He looks at me.

"To what? And who's reaction?" damn, this guy's thorough.

"To an extremely commonplace chemical reaction of the human body. In this particular case, our bodies." He keeps staring.

"You're beating around the bush. Spit it out. I know you will and, if you don't, you know I'll make you. So you better say it on your own. What '_chemical reaction_' and why '_our_' bodies?" I sigh. Damn him for being right. He will make me spill if I don't say it on my own.

"Bluntly?" he nods, smirking. He knows this will be good. "We reek of the lust we feel for each other." His smirk gets wider, and I can see surprise in his eyes. He starts moving, deliberately slowly and enticingly towards me, cornering me against the headboard of his own bed.

"You're right." He breaths out. We're pretty much nose-to-nose now. Oh Goddess, please, let me stay focused! Wait. What am I right about? I feel his nose tracing my jaw all the way to my ear and, suddenly, I just CAN'T care. I'm panting as if I'd just gotten out of a Danger Room session. "That was blunt..." his breath makes my neck tingle. He leans forwards just one more millimetre and I can feel his lips on my neck. I've never been closer to fainting or going into cardiac arrest ever before. And I've been through my share of worthy moments. He pulls back by about a hair and his lips become whisper on my throat. He's driving me crazy. I've never wanted to kiss him before so much. I feel like... oh I don't know like what! I've never felt like this before! I could give him anything right now, if only he asked for what he wanted. I'm ready to give over control of myself to him. I feel warm all over. His body is close enough to up my usually cold-ish temperature by several degrees. I feel hot, a heat in my lower stomach I've never experienced before. But most of all, I feel warm. I feel assured. I feel safe. I feel...

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK. Alright, now I feel like murdering whoever is behind that door. Warren pulls away, sighing, his breath against my heated skin. I look into his eyes. His need for slowly killing the knocker is carefully restrained. He looks up into mine, his expression divided between a smirk and a lazy smile of contentment. Goddess, I feel like kissing the living daylights out of him!

"Yeah?" he calls out.

"Hey Warren, mom says to go to sleep already, since we got school tomorrow." Will says, peeking in from behind the door. "Hey Sam..." he adds hesitantly at the glaring look on my face. If looks could kill, I'd have already made sure that Will was turned into a stinking corpse. I look back at Warren. He looks at me. Then nods slowly.

"She's right. We need to adjust our clocks again. We've been getting up too late this past week. We've had to fly up every day." There's nothing wrong with that! I whine. A whimper/moan-turned-whine that's been wanting to be expressed since my pyro pulled away. Since when is he _mine_? Thankfully, Warren is too busy looking into my eyes with a lost-in-outer-space look to read all this. He shakes his head to free himself of his thoughts. "Go to bed Will. You too Sam. We'll talk about this later." I'm about to let out a whiny complain. He smiles and kisses my cheek. Or rather the very corner of my mouth. In heaven, and with a thousand-watt smile, I get off his bed and follow Will back down.

I love my life...

Beep, beep, beep, beep... beep, beep, beep, beep...

You know that hazy fog that seems to surround your brain while you're half-way between sleep and consciousness? That's where I am right now. I'm floating in between dreams and reality, drifting peacefully between what I want and what is. Humph, I just don't feel like getting up. I'm warm and comfy and off in my own little world. At the back of my head, the idea of it being Monday registers, the fact that today it's a school day latent, but I pay no attention to it. I just turn on my side and try and run back to La-la land. No such luck. Suddenly, I hear my door opening. I feel my bed giving beneath a new weight.

"Get up Samantha, we have school today..." my eyes fly open. Damn you Warren! You and your little whispers! He chuckles, pulling back. "You can curse me as much as you want but you still have to get up. Come on, Mrs. Stronghold sends me to tell you that there's a plate of bacon and eggs as well as a mug with cappuccino, both with your name on them. So get up. You still have time."

I curse him steadily under my breath. I wish I could say I'm getting up as steadily as I'm cursing but that's just not true. Matter-of-factly, Warren's holding me up, once again. I don't know how to feel about this because sometimes I hate how much I depend on this guy, others I love how he's always there, be that to help, make me laugh or simply annoy the crap out of me and brighten up my day. And I really shouldn't be going through all this because he's much too close for him NOT to read this even if he isn't sleepy.

"I'm not, I slept rather well, thank you." He says with a smile. Hmm, this isn't such a bad way to start off my day. After all...

Can you believe that we WEREN'T late? Which is very cool. That just makes for a perfect morning. With any luck, this will be one of my best days ever. A delicious breakfast, a thrilling bus ride, which, now I think about it, was my first Sky High bus ride ever,(to Sky High, that is) then I was attacked by Layla and Magenta, who were trying to see if I had told Warren, you guys know better than anyone I _haven't _(which, by the way, is NOT my fault, he was the one that was, albeit indirectly, cutting off my air supply), and now I'm sitting down in Mad Science, with Warren, right behind Will and Layla, and laughing my ass off, along with Warren, at Will's attempt to build a radiation beam. Which is fun. Me and hot lab partner finished up real quick and are now having a blast every time someone makes something blow up. I know that's a bit bitchy but this IS high school!

"You off in dream-world again?" I look at him.

"Nah! I'm just loving the fact that I'm such a genius at this kinda thing and that now WE have the rest of the class off. You should be thanking me." He snorts.

"Well in that case you should be thanking me for every single meal I've cooked, for waking you up in the mornings, for –"

"Okay, okay, I get the picture." He smirks. Smartass. And so, the bell rings.

I manage to make it safe and sound to lunch. There was that incident around 11 with the fan club. They're still angry about what happened last Tuesday. You know? The running away and hiding in a closet with they're beloved hunk of a target? Yeah, that. I guess I would also be upset. But I can't let Warren know about that. I'd never hear the end of it.

"Too late." He says, smirking and sitting down next to me. I groan. Great.

"Too late for what?" Will, buddy, you just HAD to ask right?

"Nothing, just something I read."

"Really? Like what?" I can see it in Magenta's eyes. She's out for blood. Goddess I hate this girl!

"Like the fact that... do you really want me to say what you're thinking?"Warren says arching an eyebrow. She glares at him.

"Get outta there hothead." Suddenly Warren mock-vomits.

"Ok, not reading anymore. But I'm gonna have to puke my brains out to get rid off THAT image!" I stare at him, hoping for something more elaborate. He simply turns to Zach. "Zach, man, I didn't know you had it in you." I choke on my coke. I take that back.

"OK, I, for one, do NOT want to know. So keep whatever it is to your pyrokinetic self." Layla, Will and Ethan nod in grimacing agreement. Warren holds up his arms in surrender. At the back of my mind I register that, with such a tight shirt he really shouldn't risk flexing his arms like that. There is a sudden collective feminine sigh across the cafeteria. Then, Layla gasps. As if because of a reflex arc, the whole table turns towards her.

"Oh, poor, poor you..." she says, with honest regret, to Warren. Suddenly he groans. Will looks between both of them and, magically (to me) understands. And he starts laughing. Warren's already putting his head between his hands. Magenta, Zach and Ethan catch up to their little joke and all of a sudden, I'm the only one who's NOT laughing.

"Uh, excuse you, care to let me in on this, apparently very good, _inside_ joke?" Layla tries to catch her breath to explain.

"Uh, it's Homecoming time?"

"And..." Maj gives me her "duh" look.

"What is the one thing you need for a Homecoming dance, not counting dress, shoes and stuff?"

"A date?" Warren looks up.

"Bingo." I look at him and his rather appalled look. And it dawns on me.

"Oh..." I try containing my laughter. I have to say I do a rather good job of it. Then, another Layla gasp rings across the table.

"Oh my God! I have the PERFECT solution!" we look at her expectantly. Silence... (or as much as you can get in a hormone filled cafeteria...)

"Well? Care to share it with us?" I ask. Why does everybody give a silent second before an idea? It's not gonna make the idea better! Perhaps it gives you time to just think it over and shut up if it's not AS good...

She just looks at us.

"Isn't it _obvious_?!"

"_No_? Hippie if it was we wouldn't be here waiting for the answer!" She rolls her eyes.

"_Warren_! Take Sam! She can hold her own. And it's not like you mind her company..." she finishes slyly. I don't know whether I want to hit her or hug her. Warren turns to me.

"Ok." HUH?

"Ok?" he laughs. He takes hold of my hand and gets down on one knee. He's making a show of it. I'm going to be the most hated girl in this whole friggin' school. But I get Warren Peace to take me to Homecoming. Who the hell cares?!

"Tempest, will you be my date for Saturday's Homecoming Dance?" I pretend to think about it. I can actually hear girls on other tables gasping.

"Ok." He gives me a winning smile. Don't melt, Sammy, please don't melt!

So now it's time for Save the Citizen. And we're all being good girls and changing quietly. NOT! I have a rather large bunch of girls in here that are glaring daggers at me. Apparently, with the amount of attention Warren gets, every one of them saw the moment when he asked me to Homecoming. Ugh, whatever.

"So ..." I turn. Standing before me is Sky High's resident Ice Queen, Regina Cold (HA! How fitting! No, really, her power IS ice...), and the president of Warren's fan club. She and Warren had a thing. Then she became an obsessed bitch (Magenta's words, not mine. Though I can now vouch for it!) "I hear that Warren asked you to Homecoming..." I shrug. I sooo wanna piss her off.

"And?" I zip up my boots (I'm still allowed my beloved uniform!) and adjust my hair, then turn just in time to see a freezing fog blowing out of the Ice Bitch.

"AND I hope, for your own good, that you said no." You can just tell she's holding back one hell of a tantrum. I look over her shoulder to Layla and Maj who are coming over to see what's going on. I wink at them, swiftly enough for the blonde little icebox not to notice. Then I try putting on an innocent face. Notice the presence of the word '_try_'.

"Why?" Ooh this is TOO GOOD! I can see the floor around her icing over. HA! And then some!

"Because he's MINE!" ok, this girl definitely knows how to let out some serious shrill screaming. But she's also a whiner. So I keep on my 'innocent' face. I gasp mockingly.

"NO! Really?!" So now she looks upset.

"I thought I made it perfectly clear!" I shake my head 'understandingly'. Then I go for the kill.

"Well why didn't you say so before? Then I could've also mocked you while he asked me!" the little iceberg screams in fury and throws herself at me. I jump into the air, twirl over her head and land gracefully a safe distance away. She's not going to beat years of hand-to-hand combat training. Somewhere in my mind it registers that I have my sais safely tucked in their compartments in my boots. But I doubt I'll need to use them. I see her crashing into a wall of lockers. Does this girl have any reflexes AT ALL?! Layla and Maj come over, bending over with laughter. Layla recovers the fastest and looks up.

"I think we better get out of here." Her face shows uncertainty. I turn around to face a mob of mutinous girls. This would be only too easy.

"Nah, that's fine. It's just a little exercise." Maj snorts. She's in. But Layla won't hear about it.

"No. The boys are waiting for us. Let's go." She grabs us both firmly by the arm and proceeds to pull us out of the changing room.

"What took you so long?" I look at Warren.

"Your crazy ex." He groans. Will, Zach and Ethan laugh.

"Aw, shit, what's she done this time?" I laugh.

"Oh well, she mentioned something about how she owned you or something?" Warren groans again. "And then, when I innocently said that I was sorry – " they all snort. "She tackled me!" the boys turn to me. "Or, rather, tried to."

"And then what?"

"Then, Ethan... she crashed into a locker." We all burst out laughing. Suddenly, the Ice Bitch and her minions walk out of the locker rooms. Then I feel Warren's arm around me. She looks at us, already sitting on the benches. I look at Warren. He winks. I hear a howl of anger and turn back to the blonde freezer. I smirk, and rest my head on Warren's shoulder. Man, she looks mad. Oh how I hope I get picked for one of today's matches...

So, we've already been through 5 matches and I still haven't had a go. I'm grinding my teeth.

"Relax, he'll probably call you any minute now." I huff at Warren. There's a twinkle in his eyes. Ok, something big is gonna happen.

We all cheer and clap at the winning team as another match comes to an end.

"Alright, let's pick someone else for the villain team." Boomer, well, booms out. "How about the Cheerleader and... yeah! The Freeze girl! Get down here!" I brighten up. AWESOME.

Once down, they grin at each other and whisper something. Even I can't hear it. Then they turn towards the benches.

"We pick the tree-huger." Says Penny in a loud voice. Layla smirks. Atta girl!

"And _her_." Adds the icebox. Oh I could cheer for her. She just picked pretty little me! This will be good...

I look at Layla and we smirk at each other, then race to the arena.

"Alright, Williams, Munroe, you ready?" we nod.

"Ready as we'll ever be, coach!"

"Well, in that case... three, two, one, BATTLE!" Layla and I run over to one side of the arena, leaving the other two girls clueless.

"Ok, just a quick-y: fool around until there's a minute left, _then_ grab the squealing dummy." Layla nods. Just in time.

Suddenly we are attacked by 5 copies of Penny. And I thought 1 was bad enough. Funnily enough, they're all trying to punch Layla. Huh... I grab one and punch her in the face. I can hear the cheers coming from the stands.

'_Nice one._' I look at Warren, sitting over with Will and the guys. I wink. I hear a howl of rage and feel a gust of cold. Barely faced I turn to the Ice Bitch. Looks like someone's upset...

I nod at Layla, she nods back. She can handle the cheerleader. Which leaves me to have fun kicking the Ice Queen's ass.

"Hey Layla?" she looks up from a vine-tangled clone.

"Yeah?" I smirk.

"Hold on to something." I feel like showing off. I focus, I feel my eyes glowing white and I hear a few gasps. Summoning the wind, throwing open every window there is in this freaking gym, I start to conjure up a mini hurricane, bending the elements at will. I'm releasing rain, cloud and thunder on the unsuspecting icebox. Boo hoo, poor her. NOT! This will teach her not to mess with me!

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Layla securing herself to the floor, via her vines. The clones and the original Penny are being thrown around by the wind. She obviously doesn't care. Good girl! I hear screams from the stands but I pay no attention. If Boomer can't make himself heard over this racket then he's not my problem. Meanwhile the Ice Bitch is trying to get to me but between the rain, the wind and the sudden fog, she's not really doing much. She's doing a hell of a job of staying where she is, if I must give. Most people would've already been blown away. Literally. So mental congrats to the Queen Regina for standing her ground.

I see her getting up and trying to launch a couple of attacks. But the ice spikes never reach their destination, deviated by the wind. I look up at the clock: there's exactly a minute remaining. I look at Layla who nods at me, telling me I can knock myself out. Choosing a single wind current I direct it at the dummy which is sent flying away from the crunching machine.

"HEROES WIN!" I hear Boomer, clearly but as if from a distance.

All of a sudden I feel something coming at me through the gale I created and duck just in time to see another crystalline spike zooming past my head. I look around and see Regina only a couple of metres away, apparently crawling aided by ice hooks, littering the floor. So someone is out for the kill. Well, well, well, I know how to play that game too.

Time to turn this up a notch. I focus the wind around only us. Enclosing the icebox and I in the eye of a hurricane. I can hear all the students and the few teachers that are around screaming for us to stop. But Regina suddenly turns her hands into huge ice spikes. I concentrate and shoot lightning bolts from the very air around us. She, unfortunately, avoids them all. So I decide to pull out my sais. At the sight of the metal she launches herself at me. Again. This time though, I have stalactite-like ice blocks rushing towards me.

I block each one of her jabs, chipping bits of ice off every time. But she keeps it coming, re-filling the missing pieces. There's now a crowd of only the strongest students from hero class surrounding us. Will and Warren at the head. Will tries to fly into our little battle but the hurricane pushes him back. I'll teach this girl not to attack someone when their back is turned. But I also have to admit that, enhanced senses, agility and all that crap aside, I'm starting to get tired. Please remember, dear reader, that while I'm fighting off an obsessed, jealous, murderous Ice Bitch, I'm also containing the fight in a mini hurricane, strong enough to fend off Will Stronghold. Not to mention I have to stay focused or the whole gale storm will rage throughout the whole school. So I'm getting tired.

'_Then let me the fuck in Tempest!_' I nearly lost my focus at that. I suddenly had to jump into a back flip to avoid an incoming assault of icy spikes. I'm starting to get pissed off too.

'_Warren I can't just let you in! What do you think will happen if I create a softer current for pretty little you to come in? This is like a building! You weaken a wall and it crumbles! Only this thing's "crumble" would mean destroying half the gym!_'

"_Damn it Tempest!_' I growl at this but focus on a newly formed ice jab from Regina. I drop to the floor and knock her legs out from under her. At this moment I feel the hurricane threatening to collapse and have to focus all my power on keeping it steady. From the ground the icebox keeps on shooting ice bullets. Like, hundreds of little ice balls. Lethal, really. I try avoiding them all but she keeps them coming. Suddenly a shot of fire comes out of nowhere, melting them away. I look up to see Warren flying overhead. All of a sudden Regina tries to tackle me. He zooms down and shoots out fire between her and me. She looks up to him with a pout. He lands next to me with a scowl.

I deem the fight over and slowly dissolve the wind currents back to normal. Soon enough, the gym calms down. The couple of benches on the arena have been thrown around but nothing else seems to be out of place. Except maybe for Principal Powers walking towards us through the mass of students as if she were Moses with the Red Sea. Oh shit, this can't be good.

"Miss Cold, Miss Munroe and Mr. Peace. Please follow me." Oh shit. At least she can't call my parents. Besides, I have my godfather's blessing to do whatever, so long as I stay in the school. So screw them!

I look at Warren for the first time after the fight. He looks furious. Not just angry, or cranky as I've seen him sometimes, when interacting with obnoxious students. No, I mean royally pissed. Why? He didn't do anything? She's not gonna do anything to him, is she?

'_That is not why I'm angry._' He growls into my mind. I nearly jump. I look at him again and he looks like a boiling pot. One of those that have "handle with care" written all over them. This time, he growls for real. I sigh.

'_Then what is this about?!_' he doesn't get to answer. Powers stops in front of a white door. She opens it and ushers us in.

"Mr. Peace, I expected you would've learned your lesson by now. Even if you meant well, you should've found a way of intervening without using your powers. You joined in the fight, I'm sure you know the charges by now." Warren merely nods stiffly. I still have the feeling that he's about to growl at someone again. "Miss Cold, I could not be more disappointed. You attacked a fellow student after she had won the match. Not content with that, you attack her with her back turned. This is not what we expect of you. Again, most disappointing." Awww, bitchy little Ice Queen is about to cry. Boo hoo, poor her. NOT! "As for you Miss Munroe," I snap to look at her, "I hope to make quite clear that I will not stand by such behaviour. I will let it pass without much fussing this time, but I will take further action should it repeat." I stare at her. What the hell is she talking about?! I was defending myself! "You do not attack another student after the end of the match! It goes against the rules of the game. We are here to learn how to be heroes. Not street fighters."

"She started it! I was just defending myself!" I say loudly. This woman is out of her friggin' mind!

"Regardless, you should've let the teacher handle it. Not taken the matter into your own hands. I repeat myself, I will not tolerate such behaviour in this school."

"How can you be training heroes if you don't train them to fight? That g – " I can't finish the phrase with Warren's hand over my mouth. I glare daggers at him but he just looks at the Principal and nods. She nods back and leaves. Then, and only once the door closes, does he let go.

"Why'd you shut me up? Huh? What's wrong with you?!" he just grabs my hands and crushes me against his chest. I look up, into his eyes. What is that? It's a look I've never seen before.

"What were YOU thinking about?" My heart nearly breaks at his strangled whisper.

"I was just teaching the Ice Bitch manners. That's all." I feel guilty, all of a sudden. He sighs, and gives me a small smile.

"We'll talk about this later." I smile really wide, as if trying to make it all better. It kind of works. I get a hug! It's amazing how safe I can feel in Warren's arms. Corny as it sounds.

"Get your hands off him you little..." the rest of the scream is lost as she tackles me. Only this time, she's finally successful. I'm so going to fry this icy little piece of shit!

I throw her off of me. Dimly, it registers it takes me more than it should've.

"You are toast sweetie!" I yell at her. I try to focus on the first lightning bolt I can manage. But I can't bring it in! Sure, there's a storm raging outside the school, but I can't create a bolt inside the freaking room!!!! The shock gives Regina the moment she needs to get back to hitting me. Out of training I manage to block all the hits, but I notice my reflexes are much slower. What the hell is going on?! I turn to Warren, who's watching with interest.

"Don't tell me you get a kick out of catfights, 1. And 2, what the hell is wrong with my powers?!" he barks out a laugh. Regina freezes at the sound and sighs stupidly. Begging what higher being is watching that I never had THAT idiotic look on my face I punch her hard enough to bust her lip and throw her off. She starts whining like the bitch she is, but I just turn to Warren.

"I forgot to tell you: the detention room neutralizes all super powers. So it's amazing that you can cause the storm outside." I glare.

"That's just because the weather follows any particularly strong emotion I'm feeling. Like right now I'm royally pissed off at WHOEVER built this thing!" a thunder is heard in the distance. Warren nods, impressed.

"That doesn't take away that you're a bitch!" I turn to Regina, who's still on the floor.

"Well, look who's talking, Ice Bitch!" I'm about to step towards her and give her a good kick in the ass, but Warren holds me back by the shoulders. So I guess it doesn't really matter to him if the room inhibits powers. He's just as strong!

"Regina, I'm going to say this once, and only once. Don't. Touch. Samantha. Ever. Again." She starts crying. But she could be in pure agony and I wouldn't give a shit. Warren Peace just told her to stay away from me. He just entered protective mode, for me. She could die for all I care! I could create a rainbow right now! thinking that over, I probably have... I just can't see it. Aw, well.

So, after a VERY eventful day, we finally go home. Will and Layla are waiting for us outside the detention room. Regardless of the time that has passed, I'm still happy as can be. Outside, there is a HUUUGE rainbow and the most beautiful sunset EVER. YAY me.

"Wow Tempest. You've really outdone yourself this time!" I smile at him. He smiles at me. Regina starts crying again. Laughing quietly, we rejoin Will and Layla.

"Today's has to have been the craziest weather we've ever had. By the way awesome sunset!"

"Thanks Layla!" we look at each other.

"So now what?" Warren sighs.

"What do you think William? Your parents are probably thinking you landed yourself detention again. We have to fly down and tell them what really DID happen! Any time soon would be great cause I'm beat." I nod enthusiastically. Between the fight in the gym, and the little struggle in the detention room, I've never been more tired! (Didn't I say that when the gang and I were painting my room? Well I'm still beat!)

"Mom? Dad? We're home!" Will, Warren and I enter the Stronghold residence. We've already dropped Layla off. I hear the Strongholds rushing out of the living room.

"Where WERE you?!" I cover my ears.

"Ouch! Mrs. Stronghold, it's fine, were ok. I just landed Warren and I detention. It was my fault!" she blinks.

"Actually, I kinda deserved that detention. Although I must admit I have no idea how I would've stopped that fight _without_ my powers, but Powers must be starting to loose it." Mrs. Stronghold looks at him, then she seems to understand.

"What fight? What happened?"

"Steve, they've had a long day, how about we just have dinner and they can go to their rooms?" I shake my head.

"No, that's ok Mrs. Stronghold. What happened, Mr. Stronghold, is that I had my first 'Save the Citizen' game." He looks enthusiastic. To say the least.

"OH! What happened? Did you guys win? Who were you with? Against? Tell me!" I chuckle.

"Well, we did win. I was on the hero team with Layla. We were put against Penny and Regina Cold. I got a bit showy and beat Regina easy. She got pissed and tried to attack me after the game had ended. So I ..." I describe, more or less, I'm not about to go into detail, what happened then. And what triggered it. They just nod understandingly and we eat dinner.

Right now it is, exactly 9.41 pm. I'm wrapped up in my big, fluffy bathrobe, lying on my bed, wondering whether or not there's a hair dryer in this house. I suppose there is. I hear a knock on my door. Three guesses who...

"Warren?" he opens the door. I pull my self together. If he wants me to make decent conversation he should seriously put a shirt on. DUDE, those abs! He chuckles.

"Hey, Tempest."

"Hey." Uh oh, he's got that serious look on his face... "What? Your going to lecture me on today?"

He chuckles.

"No, Tempy, no. I'm not gonna tell you off." _Tempy_? I like it. Awww, is this guy cute or what?!

"Then? You come to tell me how admirably powerful I am?" I ask in mock arrogance. He smiles.

"No Tempest. We need to talk. Remember?"

Uh oh.

Oh Goddess, please don't let me go catatonic this time. Fortunately, I don't. I sigh.

"I guess you're right. Come in, sit down." He walks into my room, shutting the door. He looks soooo yummy sitting shirtless-ly on my bed. Bad Sammy! Focus! This is serious!

"Yeah, this is serious Tempest." I sigh again.

"Fine, but first, I need a hair dryer!" he snorts. Then, a mischievous glint appears in his eyes. Oh boy.

"Come closer and turn around." I cautiously move towards him. It's like a mirror of what he did yesterday. I sit right in front of him at the foot of my bed, with my back to him, gazing out of the balcony. The sky is clear tonight, stars beautifully scattered around. I feel his hands grab my long hair, feel them warm up and start combing it.

"Ok, you are officially hired as my personal hair dryer." He laughs quietly. His breath hits my exposed neck. I shiver.

"Alright. Time to get serious." I sigh. Yet again. It's becoming a bad habit. But what can I do?

I hate getting serious...


	10. Getting Serious

CHAPTER 10: "Getting Serious"

But it is a necessary evil. Not that I'll be the first one to talk. The hell I will. Nah-uh. Warren's gonna have to coax this out of me. Of course that's not always the safest bet for me, but…

"Where did you learn to do this?" Warren chuckles quietly, his breath hitting my neck.

"Do what?" I huff a bit. I can't really get annoyed in my current state of mind: pyro dearest has gone beyond drying my hair. He is now giving me a massage as well. And it feels damn good. Especially after today!

"Give a massage." I can practically feel him smile.

"Natural talent." I huff mockingly.

"Another one?" he laughs. "Okay so, what did you want to talk about?" his face falls. Talk about mood swings.

"Actually, _today_ is exactly what I want to talk about." I cringe. I'm gonna get told off. I just know it. So maybe I should get the first word in.

"Warren, listen, I'm a big girl, I've been trained to fight my entire live, there is nothing that little icebox could've possibly done to –" his hands drop from my hair to my shoulders and turn me around to look at him.

"Oh, but there is." I can see the concern etched in his face. "Regina, as…" he hesitates. I try to help.

"Much of a bitch as she is?" he nods.

"Is extremely powerful." I stare.

"Oh, puh-lease! Did you see how many things I was handling and I was still beating her?" Warren groans.

"Tempest, she has the biggest raw power, energy wise, of the entire female population of the school. Except maybe for you, though. You are right, you were awesome today." I smile widely. "But she's still very dangerous. Not even Will can win against her." I snort.

"You're more powerful than Will." He looks at me like a parent scolding a stubborn child. How endearing can he be?

"I am, but Will is the standard of powerful at Sky High. If you can beat Will, you are more than powerful. Fortunately for Will, only I can beat him now. So if I say that Regina can give William a fair, even fight, we are talking powerful."

"So what? I'm more powerful than she is! What's the problem?!" at this, Warren seems to drop all composure. He takes a hold of my hands, much like back at the detention room, and looks deep into my eyes. By now, I'm pretty much sitting on his lap. We are mere inches away.

"_So what_? I'll tell you 'so what'!" his tone is hushed, nearly laced with despair. "You do not mess with Regina. She's powerful enough to hurt others. Even someone like you! Back at the gym, she was holding back." I snort.

"So was I! Have you any idea the utter chaos that would've been unleashed in that gym had I released my full strength on that Ice Bitch? She'd be a fucking crisp by now!"

"You were depleting your energy too fast! And don't you ever pull that little hurricane-playing-barrier thing on me again! Don't ever lock me out of something like that Samantha!" I cringe again. _Samantha_? He is angry. But so am I.

"I didn't want you getting in the middle of a fight!" I couldn't bring myself to say I worry about him. But just the mere thought of him getting into a fight and getting hurt makes me ill.

"And I don't want you to get hurt! Don't ever doubt that I won't fry Regina to a piece of charcoal if she lays a finger on you again but it would be a lot easier if you don't go around looking for a fight!" Ugh! I'm getting pissed but I'm also feeling a bit guilty about it. How can you be mad at such a guy and keep a clean conscience?! But I'm still getting pissed.

"Dude, stop worrying! I'm fine and healthy and I kicked the Ice Bitch's ass! No need to care like this!" as soon as the words leave my mouth I see something shift in Warren's eyes. They become softer. His heat is overwhelming, soothing, heart-warming. He sighs, then he scoops me into his arms and falls back onto the bed. I am currently sprawled over a half-naked Warren Peace. Focus! Serious conversation in progress, remember? I feel him caressing my hair. There goes my focus.

"That's just it, Tempest. I do care. I care a lot about what happens to you." I nearly melt. I could kiss him! OMG he cares about me! He looks down into my eyes, my head on his chest, listening to his soothing heart-beat. "As far as I'm concerned, you're not allowed to get hurt." I smile, nearly tearing up. I pull my self up over him, till my head fits in the crook of his neck. I risk a light kiss along his jaw.

"Ok, then. I'll try not to get hurt." I whisper. This has to be the first time I've ever seen him shiver. It makes me feel powerful.

"Now you know how I feel every day..." he says in a playful undertone. I gasp indignantly and hit him playfully on the chest. His broad and comfy chest. My hair could still use a little drying but I couldn't care less. I just snuggle into Warren as he pulls both of us onto the pillows at the head of the bed and throws the covers over the both of us. I'm in for a great night's sleep...

I feel the sunlight on my face, streaming in from between the open curtains and the wide open balcony doors. Somebody tell me why I didn't close the damn doors? Actually, don't bother. I've never been more comfortable in my entire life. I've never slept better. And everything around me is so deliciously warm. My head (and half my body, now I think about it) is resting on a hard, soft, warm something. I'm so relaxed and so comfy I'm probably not going to get up today. Yeah, there's a good idea. I'll just stay in bed for the rest of the day, resting against this magnificent, new-found pillow of mine. I sigh contently and stretch my self, purring like the cat I am.

"Comfortable much?" I hear a deep voice, still husky with sleep, somewhere above my head. I simply nod against my warm pillow, rubbing my face against it and purring again. I hear a deliciously deep chuckle and a shiver runs down my spine. I feel a pair of lips on my forehead. "Come on, Tempest, time to get up. It's a school day, remember?" I get another kiss on the forehead. I finally open my eyes and look up at where Warren's voice is coming from.

He smiles at me, his head still resting on my pillows. Wait, if he's using my pillows, then what is MY head resting on? I look down at my "pillow" and treat myself to a close up of Warren's perfect chest. I gulp. Please don't let me be drooling, please don't let me be drooling! OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG... SYSTEM OVERHEATING! I mentally slap myself. Get a hold of yourself girl! I look up to see Warren smirking, chuckling quietly.

"Oh come on, hotshot! It's too early in the morning!" I whine letting myself drop back on his chest, burying my face in the crook of his neck. He laughs quietly.

"Too early for what?" I huff, my breath hitting his neck and I feel him exhale. Ok, now we're even.

"Too early for you to catch me drooling over you like that!" he laughs again.

"Tempest, it is never too early to reassure my poor self esteem." I snort. If he has a poor self esteem then I missed the funeral for mine! He laughs out loud at that one. A glorious sound for the perfect morning. Man, I can be corny when I want to...

"Yeah, you can be. Now, up. Time for school." I whine and hold onto his neck, not wanting to get up. He chuckles, half-struggling with me, half-peeking at the clock to make sure we're not late. What would I do with out him?

"No idea." I chuckle. I hear a knock on the door and answer without thinking.

"Yeah?" Will comes in. Guess I'm not the only one not thinking. The difference is I have a valid excuse. Now I don't know why Warren is laughing: it could be because of me and it could be because of the look on Will's face. I laugh as well. It is priceless!

"William, please say you've come for something other than looking like an idiot?"

"Uh... I um... did... did you guys..." we laugh at his stuttering. "Warren what's going on?!" I bury my laughter into Warren's neck, but I can clearly hear his. Music to my ears. Corny alert!

"What happened, William, is that we talked late into the night and I simply fell asleep." I nod.

"I was as surprised as you are. Actually, I'm still surprised!"I add chirpily. And mind you, I'm never chirpy this early in the morning. Warren keeps laughing.

"Well, uh, mom says to get up and get ready..." I keep laughing. I feel Warren shifting under me, and then I'm being lifted into the air, only to be carried over to the door, then dropped on my feet and forced down to the kitchen. I growl softly at being manhandled. Will jumps a bit but Warren just laughs it off. I whine. This was going to be a loooong day.

After a delicious breakfast, courtesy of Mrs. Stronghold, a quick conflict on what to wear, and all the problems and yelling that come with such a conflict, I am finally out of the house, in a decent mood, flanked by Will and Warren. Will is still acting all "mentally scarred". Laughable, really. But Warren is starting to loose his patience.

"I still CAN'T believe you - "

"William, I hear another comment about it and you'll be walking naked down the Sky High halls!" Warren growls out, lighting up his hand momentarily, to go with the threat. Well, maybe he's already lost it. Right then, Layla walks up to us.

"Comment about what? What can't you believe Will?" I look at Warren. He looks at me. We're so friggin' doomed.

"They slept together!" I wince, visibly. Layla lets out the loudest, shrillest scream ever. Even Will is down on his knees, along with Warren and me, covering our ears. I am trying to explain it to her but she just keeps yelling incoherences.

"You! OMG! Did WHAT?!?!?!?! And- ? AAAHHHH! BUT- ? Was it- ? For real?! HOW? When? AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!"

Finally, Will manages to clamp his hand over her mouth. Warren helps me up, ever the gentleman, and I tentatively try to reason with her. With Will's hand still over her mouth of course...

"Layla, Will is just talking shit. Again. Warren and I did NOT sleep together."I back-track at the look I get from Will. "At least not in the way you understood it." Layla nods, and Will deems it safe for him to pull his hand away.

"THEN HOW?!?!?!?!" she shrieks again. I cover my ears and scream back at her.

"IF YOU KEEP YELLING I'M NOT GONNA TELL YOU!!!!" she shuts her trap. Finally! I compose myself, and re-start the explanation. "Ok, so, what your adorable boyfriend meant," I say, glaring at Will, while he cowers behind Layla, "is that Warren and I simply talked well into the night and fell asleep on my bed. Where he found us this morning."

"Oh!" That's IT? Is that all that she can say after nearly busting my eardrums?! Warren laughs out loud and I calm down considerably. But I'm still glaring at Will. As we proceed to get on the bus, just as Ronnie pulls up, Layla spots Magenta, next to Zach, Ethan right behind them. "Magenta, get us a seat. I've got news!" Gee, thanks Layla! Now the WHOLE FRIGGIN' BUS is going to be listening in on your conversation!!!!

Magenta switches spots anyway, leaving Will to sit with Zach and Warren to sit next to Ethan. I move behind Layla and Maj. I need to minimise the damage she's going to cause to my image.

"You are never going to believe what Will just told me!" she squeals. Magenta huffs.

"Well then tell me!" I try to cut in at this point but Layla just shushes me. How dare she!

"Will told me that this morning, when he went to wake Sammy up, he found Warren in her bed. As well." ok so she went for the kill. And I'm going to kill her after.

"Will found who WHERE?!" the whole bus has turned towards us. And since Layla and Magenta are staring at me, then they all stare at me. I huff, glare at them, and make them all turn around. I just hope there's no one around with enhanced hearing!

"Layla, you're telling this the wrong way. Just like your precious boyfriend."

"Oh, please tell me what Will said!" I turn to Maj.

"He just dropped the bomb on her! He just burst it out! 'They slept together'! She started screaming like I've never heard before in my entire life!" suddenly, my sensitive hearing catches a soft 'OMG' somewhere at the front of the bus. I look up and see a younger girl, probably sophomore, looking at me wide-eyed. OH, SHIT NO! "Oh fuck!"

"What?" Layla turns to me with a worried look. Magenta gets the evil glint.

"You just remembered it's true?" I slap her over the head.

"No you idiot! A girl, who I would imagine has super hearing, just heard us!" I can hear Warren laughing at the front. I look at him, catch his eye and glare for as long as is humanly possible for me. Which isn't really that long.

'_What is it, Tempest? Afraid of a few school rumours?_' I grimace.

'_Actually I'm more worried about what your darling ex is going to make out of this!_' I see his eyes narrowing. AWWWWWW '_And if she even tries to touch me, I'm going to kick her ass of the edge of the school! Nothing you can do about it!_'

'_If she tries to lay a finger on you, there won't be enough of her for you to push of the edge of the school after I'm through with her!_' I shiver at the growl in his tone. Who doesn't want a hot pyro with too many qualities to enlist and a cute protective dark side?!

Oh, now that's just great! By the time we get to school, EVERY SINGLE FRIGGIN' GIRL is staring at either Warren or me. If it's at Warren... I really don't think I need to outline that look. Let's just leave it at somewhere around disappointment and longing. If it's me... it's pure and unaltered hatred. On the one hand, it feels ridiculous that people are hating me because of something I haven't done. On the other hand, I feel like giving them some true, honest-to-Goddess gossip-material...

As I walk down the hall to our first class, I feel Warren's arm slither around my waist in a possessive kind of way. Hey, I sure as hell am NOT complaining. I'm just a bit curious. He didn't strike me as the type to start this kinda rumour. But then again, I have nothing to complain about. LOL. I turn to him with a smile and I see the dangerous look on his face. I look in the direction of whatever is holding his attention. Wow. I knew he could glare but who would've thought that he could pin Regina Cold to the spot with a simple look. Oh what I would give to be able to subtly rub it into the Ice Bitch's face and get her to land herself detention again. But I promised Warren I wouldn't. So... Warren's arms around me will just have to do. As usual, the feeling more than makes up for any suffering. LOL. Don't you just love high school?

It's Hero History time and, seeing as the class is the most humongous bore ever, girls in this class are not just settling for glares. I am now surrounded by a small fence of paper balls coming from all over the class, bearing hate mail. I can't even bother reading them. But I am terribly bored.

'_How about we give them something else to talk about?_' I look at Warren with slight apprehension. What exactly is he talking about...?

'_Like what?_' he chuckles softly. Oh boy... No! Focus! He's saying something!

'_I don't know. Make something up..._' I look at him with a classical are-you-shitting-me look.

'_What do you mean 'make something up'? Like what? What could possibly cause enough uproar so as to crush today's rumour?!_' the look he gives me makes me shiver. He's thinking something that I'd probably love to try. But knowing me, I wouldn't have the guts.

'_Oh, come on! Do you really think that badly of me?_' Can you believe Warren Peace knows how to pout?! I didn't, (now I sure as hell do!) though I suppose it shouldn't really surprise me. I've yet to find something this guy CAN'T do. Jerk. He laughs. After a collective sigh I have to fight not to join into, I carry on.

'_Yes, I do think that badly of you. What the hell do you want me to do?!_' oh Goddess. That smirk. The lethal, sexy, Warren Peace smirk. This is going to be big. Be that good or bad. The smirk gets bigger. Oh shit.

'_How does getting caught sound?_'I gulp. Please tell me he doesn't mean what I think he means...

'_Getting caught...? What do you mean "getting caught"?_'He looks straight into my eyes.

'_What do you understand by getting caught?_' I blush. He chuckles lowly, knowingly making me shiver. '_Cause,_ _I understand a closet, during a public event, and somebody seeing you and I going in, and not coming out... for a while..._'

I don't think I've ever been this turned on. And by a mere idea. Warren and I, going into a closet during... Homecoming! Of course! And not coming out for a while... Just the idea of what people would think is going on, even if nothing will happen, makes my nerves spark to live. Suddenly, I feel Warren's warmth, too close to me, his lips whispering against my neck.

"Who ever said nothing was going to happen...?" I gasp so loud the whole class, except for the droning teacher, turns to me. I feel hot all over. I can't bring myself to care about the radical increase in temperature in the room. Warren straightens up, pulls the temperature back down, and laughs quietly. I'm shivering uncontrollably. I think we're going to make a habit of him carrying me over to Mad Science every Tuesday morning.

Sure enough, as soon as the bell rings he has to help me up. The feel of his hands on my bare arms feels like electricity. The heat emanating from his body is overwhelming. And worst of all, it is obviously affecting me. And he knows it.

As soon as we get to Mad Science I run to my seat. My legs are just incapable of holding me up any longer.

'_Well, that's what you have me for..._' I slap my hand over my mouth in an attempt to silence a groan. Layla turns to me, turning from me to Warren and back at me. I shake my head. I'll tell her later. If I can manage to get through this class...

As it happens, I've managed to get through all my classes. At least up until lunch. I'm currently standing in line, waiting for my food, surrounded by murderous girls. It would be better if I just skip lunch today...

"No need for that." Warren comes up behind me, his warmth soothing my nerves. In 2 minutes, I'm safely seated between Warren and Layla.

"Ok, _now_ can you tell me what happened before Mad Science?" I wince. So Warren answers.

"We just came up with a plan to feed the rumours." I turn to him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, there, mister! YOU came up with that plan!" he smirks at me.

"Are you against it?" I just stick out my tongue. He licks his lips. Suddenly, I know what Ethan feels like every time he turns into a puddle. I feel someone poking my ribs and I jump back to Layla. She's wearing a smirk too.

"Sooo? What's the plan?" she asks Warren. I wince, inwardly. I can just picture everyone's reaction.

"The plan is to hide together, say in a supplies closet or something, and let a few people see. That should give them something else to talk about." Layla blinks. I can see Magenta smirking as well.

"But, people go together into rooms all the time." Huh. I hadn't thought about that. Then how...?

"Not bumping into every flat surface while making out." I nod.

"Well, that makes more sens- WHAT?!?!" I turn to Warren. Oh my Goddess, somebody please tell me he did not say what I think he did! I look around our table. I can see everyone grinning mischievously in agreement.

"What are you so surprised about, Tempest? We can hardly do this talking amiably." Goddess, that smirk! I gulp. I should've seen this coming. I should've. What the hell am I complaining about?! No idea why, either. I just nod. I gulp again. Oh my Goddess...

"I guess you're right. Even if we stop, what matters is what they can see." Warren wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me towards him. Make that flush against him.

"Tempest, I already told you: what makes you think nothing will happen...?" his whisper trails off as his lips brush against my ear. I am now a spineless pile of me. No, seriously, the only thing stopping me from besting Ethan's melting time is... well, Warren. I'm shivering uncontrollably. Again. Goddess, what I would give to just grab him and kiss him...

The rest of the week is spent in pretty much the same way. Every day, the tension gets worse. And I can't sleep well enough anymore. Which is terribly annoying. I mean, sure, my bed's comfy and sufficiently nice, but nothing compares to having Warren Peace as your pillow. I can hear him chuckling from next to me. It's frankly annoying. Oh, and, of course, I'm crankier than usual. We are currently in Gadgets and Costume class, which is ridiculous and pointless, to me anyway, seeing as I already have a uniform and I am my own gadget. So I could fall asleep in this class. But the teacher is a particularly strict one. Not to mention the guy has some sort of radar for bored students. So you have to, at least, pretend you're paying attention. And with Warren next to me, I just can't. I drop my head on my desk. I am bored and I am sleepy. And I don't give a crap whether or not the teacher will lock me away in detention or not. Suddenly, I feel a poke. I groan in all response.

"Come on, Tempest, you'll land yourself detention again..." Warren whispers in my ear. I jump out my seat. The teacher glares at me. I smile sweetly (NOT) and turn to glare at Warren. Mr. Hill turns back to the class, shaking his head.

"But I'm bored!" I whine. He looks at me with a smirk, raising an eyebrow. I gulp and turn back to the class, trying to get away from whatever he'll do now.

'_What would entertain you, then?_'I gulp again. Then I see a strawberry blonde glaring at me. She's one of the Ice Queen's minions. Huh...

'_How about a small practical joke?_' Warren turns to me, intrigued.

'_What do you have in mind?_' I nod over at the girl.

'_Name and power?_' Warren smirks.

'_Good choice. She's one of Regina's favourite bitches. Alina Green. She has intangibility._' Like Kitty. Nice. Good power, if you know how to use it. Let's see if she does. Cause if she doesn't, she could fall right out of the school... '_Oh, she knows how to use it. She and her twin, Adrianna, were the ones to keep tags on me after Regina and I broke up._'

'_Obsessed bitch indeed. What's her sister's power?_' Warren grimaces.

'_Invisibility._' Bad combo. Two bitches with the ability to disappear from sight and walk through walls, and subject to the Ice Bitch? I shudder at the thought. And what's the bet all the glaring is so that she can report back to her Queen. Well, then, let's give her something to report. '_I'm in._' Warren smiles at me. I smile back.

'_Heat up her chair. Let's see how long she lasts before she starts squealing about it._'

Two minutes later Alina dearest is jumping up and down complaining about a burning chair. I put my powers to good use and cool the chair down. Just in time. Mr. Hill approaches, squinting suspiciously at Warren, and touches the chair. It feels slightly warm. But then again, Green's ass has been on that chair for the entire period. He turns his suspicion at me. I keep the straightest face possible. Not easy when I can nearly feel Warren shaking with silent laughter. But Hill doesn't have anything on us. So he keeps quiet. Nothing he can do about it, if he can't prove it was us. I love having powers. I love my friends. I love my life. I love Warren. I back track. Do I really mean that? I turn back to Warren, who, for once, if blissfully unaware of the turmoil inside my head. I look at his smile, at the sparkle in his eyes, I feel his hand holding mine, and I feel the warmth coursing through me. I am now more convinced than ever. I am falling in love with Warren Peace.


End file.
